If you're a millennial like myself, there's a fair chance that you really only knew Leslie Nielsen for his work in comedy. After the actor starred in David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker's Airplane!, he became an icon in spoof movies, and he continued to make funny films like the Naked Gun trilogy up until his death in 2010. Before 1980, however, Nielsen was best known as the serious star of features like Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure – and it was specifically the history of that mid-career genre switch-up that convinced producer Seth MacFarlane that no actor other than could star in the upcoming Naked Gun legacyquel other than Liam Neeson.
The ability of performers to play their role straight even as events around them get goofier and goofier can make or break a spoof movie, and it very much helps to have serious gravitas in the mix (think about Leslie Nielsen entering the cockpit multiple times in the third act of Airplane! to sternly say, "I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.") In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Seth MacFarlane explained that quality makes Liam Neeson uniquely qualified for the role of Frank Drebin Jr., saying,
Liam Neeson is probably the only actor alive in the 21st century who could do what Leslie Nielsen did, largely because that kind of actor is not something that we're really generating a lot of in Hollywood anymore. [He's] larger than life on screen and yet so honest, two things that don't always mesh, but he's really able to be that kind of an on-camera powerhouse.
There are a number of movies where Liam Neeson is so serious that it is practically frightening... but it only takes a few tweaks from there to create something comedic. As noted in the EW piece, this is perhaps best previously exemplified in a 2011 episode of the comedy Life's Too Short, which features Neeson dramatically insisting that he is a funny actor while in a meeting with Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, and Warwick Davis.
As evidenced in his casting choices for Ted 2, A Million Ways To Die In The West, The Orville and episodes of Family Guy, Seth MacFarlane likes to shine a light on Neeson's comedic skills, and choosing him to play the lead in The Naked Gun ultimately links back to a spoof philosophy held by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker. Said the filmmaker,
One of the cardinal rules for the Zucker brothers was that you don't cast comedians. You cast serious, dramatic actors, preferably with a ton of gravitas, which Liam has in bountiful levels.
It won't be too much longer before we get to see that special gravitas exploited for comedy. Co-starring Pamela Anderson, Paul Walter Hauser, Kevin Durand, Danny Huston and more, The Naked Gun is set with an August 1 release date will be playing on the big screen everywhere.
You must confirm your public display name before commenting
Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
