Interview: Liam Neeson Talks Irish Thriller In The Land of Saints and Sinners

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief spoke with In The Land of Saints and Sinners star Liam Neeson. The Irish acting legend spoke about his talented co-stars, the film’s dark themes, and reflected on Nell’s 30th anniversary. In The Land of Saints and Sinners is out in theaters on March 29 from Samuel Goldwyn Films.

“Ireland, 1970s. Eager to leave his dark past behind, Finbar Murphy (Liam Neeson) leads a quiet life in the remote coastal town of Glencolmcille, far from the political violence that grips the rest of the country,” says the synopsis. “But when a menacing crew of terrorists arrive, led by a ruthless woman named Doirean (Kerry Condon), Finbar is drawn into an increasingly vicious game of cat and mouse, forcing him to choose between exposing his secret identity or defending his friends and neighbors.”

Tyler Treese: I just love this scene early on in the film where you give a man a minute to say his last words. There are really heavy themes you’re playing with here. You can see just the impact that it has on your character as well. Could you speak to just filming that sequence? I thought it really set the tone.

Liam Neeson: Yeah, I think I did. And it was, I agree with you. I thought it was a lovely scene. It was certainly well written, and my co-actor Mark O’Regan — the fact that he burst into song was it wasn’t in the original script. And it just really, it was just beautiful. His interpretation of that, rather than pleading for his life or whatever, or saying, “Okay, I knew my time was gonna come,” and then bursting into song. I remember that day very well. It was lovely.

Getting to film this on Irish soil, how much did that kind of add into this experience? Because obviously such a great Irish cast and this is such an Irish story as well.

It’s got a Western sort of theme to it, too. It was great to get back with Rob Lorenz – and Tom Stern, the director of photography — and to do another film with my dear, dear friend Ciaran Hinds [who] I’ve known for over 50 years. Kerry Condon, who’s an actress I didn’t know. She’s terrific. Young Jack Gleason. Just a really good cast.

So every day, going to work was an absolute joy up in County Donegal which is sometimes known as the Forgotten County in Ireland, way up in the northwest of Ireland. Very rugged, very, very beautiful. That added something to the story of the turbulence maybe.

Certainly, in the seventies and in the north of Ireland, it was a very, very turbulent period. Very violent period too. So the topography of Donegal seemed to add to that, you know?

I did want to ask about working with Kerry Condon. She just gives you a stellar performance in this film, and you work so well off each other. What stood out about her as a scene partner?

Just her commitment. I’d seen that wonderful Martin McDonough film. She had done The Banshees of Inisherin and thought she was tremendous in it. And she was just one of those actresses just gets on with it. Really terrific to work with, you know what I mean? Just gets stuck in, you know.

You mentioned Ciaran Hinds. I read that he said you were cooking for him every night on set. Are you a big cook?

He was actually cooking for me, you know. Oh, I wash the occasional dish, you know. No, Ciaran’s a wonderful cook. He was being a smartass when he said I did. [Laughs]

That’s very fun. You mentioned you’ve known him for around 50 years, and — obviously worked together in Excalibur. How great is that to creatively reunite again and get to film these great scenes together?

It’s lovely. It really is. It’s like you know, as I say, he is my dearest friend. Sometimes, not Ciaran, because he’s too professional, but sometimes I crack up laughing a bit. Just because I’m so enjoying myself acting with him, you know what I mean?

This blew my mind, but the 30th anniversary of Nell is coming up this year. Jodie Foster – who you starred opposite — is just having such a great moment right now. We’re seeing her really get her flowers. So I was curious – what stood out about working with her in that filming experience?

When you said 30 years, I thought you were gonna talk about Schindler’s List. Oh my gosh. Is Nell 30 years old?

Yeah.

God where did we shoot that? North Carolina. And yeah, it was lovely. It was lovely. And Jodie, she’s such a professional. My gosh, she’s been doing this since she was six years of age. She’s having a moment you say? I don’t know what that means. She’s in a TV series at this moment?

Yeah, True Detective. She’s in Nyad recently too. She’s just really getting a lot of appreciation, which is great to see.

Great, and a very good director too, Jodie. Especially for an industry — you know, Hollywood — that kind of, or at least used to, kick out actresses once they passed the age of 30 or 33.

So then, my last question for you. We’ve really gotten to see your sense of humor in some TV cameos, like Atlanta, Life’s Too Short, and Derry Girls. You’ve got Naked Gun coming up. What’s most exciting about showing off your comedic chops throughout an entire film here?

It has to be proven. Yeah. So I’m slightly nervous of it. A little Stephen Colbert sketch or Ricky Gervais, I’m okay because it’s short. But a whole film, we’ll see. We’ll see. But it’s a good script. Akiva Schafer from the world of SNL is co-writing and he’s the director. So we’ll see. We’re still in the casting process for the other parts, but the script, there’s some very funny laugh out loud moments.

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