Liam Neeson is an inspiration, and a very successful and versatile film actor; from the dramatic Schindler’s List to action hero in Taken as well as a gifted voice actor. He voiced Aslan in the Narnia films and the good cop and the bad cop in The Lego Movie.

I recently read an interview with Neeson in Success magazine and his point of view resonated with me, so I’m sharing some highlights here. Perhaps they may help you in your voice acting business, possibly that next voiceover audition, or better yet, your individual life’s journey.

• Liam Neeson has lived through a lot. Audiences know he has dealt with the devastating loss of his talented wife, actress Natasha Richardson in 2009, and then left to raising his two sons, 13 and 12. He just keeps fighting through his struggles, refusing to fall apart. He is pictured above with his late wife, Natasha Richardson.
• He’s a voracious reader, juggling usually three books at a time
• He’s innately modest. Even though his performance in 1993’s Schindler’s List earned him an Oscar nomination, he says his own performance left him dissatisfied. “I didn’t own the part. I didn’t see enough of me in there”.
• He feels his more recent acting is better,  now that he’s older. He’s no longer …”chewing up the scenery…God knows I’ve done some not very good movies. But it’s always a learning curve. Always. I always try to come away from the experience having learned something…”

Neeson and his late wife kept this Samuel Beckett quote nearby as inspiration:

                 Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

Neeson says, “If you’ve done a lousy performance for whatever reason and you get a chance to go on stage…You think all things are lost but they’re not lost. There’s always hope. You make it better. But you have to be there. You have to come back to the plate again. You have to keep always coming to the plate.”

What kinds of parallels do you see for your own life and or career?  I’ll admit, many. And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to the plate.