LIAM NEESON IN "A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST"
Undisputed
blockbuster action hero Liam Neeson stars as notorious outlaw Clinch
Leatherwood in Universal Pictures' new comedy “A Million Ways to
Die in the West” (opening exclusively at Ayala Malls Cinemas
nationwide on Sept 3.)
Photo courtesy of UIP |
In
the film, after sheep farmer Albert (Seth MacFarlane) backs out of a
gunfight, his fickle girlfriend leaves him for another man. When a
mysterious and beautiful woman named Anna (Charlize Theron) rides
into town, she helps him find his courage and they begin to fall in
love. But when her husband (Liam Neeson), a notorious outlaw, arrives
seeking revenge, the farmer must put his newfound courage to the
test.
Producer
Scott Stuber recalls how Neeson's casting came about: "For our
ultimate foil, we sat around like little kids saying, 'I hope we can
get someone like Liam Neeson. Wouldn't that be amazing?'" Turns
out that they didn't have to dream. "I've been lucky enough to
have worked with him before, and he was a fan of Seth's, so it was a
terrific get."
Actor-writer-director
Seth MacFarlane knew that Clinch was pivotal to “A Million Ways to
Die in the West” because the character had to be believable. He
explains that Neeson was the man for the job: "Clinch is a
character that has to seem like he is in a drama for everything to
work. He is a bad guy who has to be dealt with: a real situation.
That's an anchor that you have to have in a comedy like this. You
have to believe that the bad guy's a legitimate threat, and Liam did
that masterfully."
Prior
to meeting with Neeson, MacFarlane had an idea of what kind of accent
he wanted Clinch to possess. The Irish-born actor had similar
thoughts. MacFarlane says: "I love Liam's speaking voice, so
when he came in I thought, 'God, I hope he doesn't do a Western
accent.' He just has such a resonant, powerful speaking voice. The
guy can read the phone book, and you sit up and take a listen."
Recalling
his rationale for playing Clinch as a Northern Irishman, Neeson
offers: "A few years ago, my kids came home from school and
said, 'Dad, you're on Family Guy!' So I watch, and Seth lampooned me
as Liam Neeson doing a Western, strangely enough, and what my accent
would be like. So, when we agreed to do this, I said, 'I'll only do
it, Seth, if I can play it in my Northern Irish accent...as homage to
Family Guy.' So he agreed."
Neeson
discusses how he brought his background to the story: "Clinch is
a classic baddie in the Western tradition; he's a gunslinger. I'm
from the north of Ireland originally, and I've made him very pure and
broad Northern Irish. I imagine his real name was probably Trevor
McBraid, but he changed his name to Clinch Leatherwood when he came
to the Wild West."
“A
Million Ways to Die in the West” is distributed by United
International Pictures through Columbia Pictures. See my review in previous post.
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