Liam Neeson & Joe Carnahan Interview For ‘The Grey’

In ‘The Grey,’ Liam Neeson leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements – and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt – before their time runs out. Directed by Joe Carnahan (The A-Team, Smokin’ Aces) ‘The Grey’  is set for release January 27th. Look out for a more in-depth interview with Liam Neeson and the rest of the cast next week.

What spoke to you about this role? And how was it working with the other guys in this ensemble?

Liam Neeson: There was something very primal about the story that triggered me, triggered something in me in this technological age. Me and a bunch of guys, out in the elements, extreme elements/ Being pursued by….almost mythological wolves. Their size, their intensity, their hatred for mankind. The wolves want to pick us off one at a time. That really interested me.

Something quite immediate happened with all of us as we shook each others hand, you know? And yes, we knew we were gonna go on this ride, this journey – and I know that’s a cliché but it really really was a journey in lots of ways. We all recognised that, and we all recognised each others strengths and sensitivities. It was tough but we had a good laugh.

How was it for you working with Joe Carnahan the second time round after ‘The A-Team’?

Liam Neeson: I found working on ‘The A-Team’ that Joe’s passion and energy is quite phenomenal. And with this one it was doubly so. He’s got a sense of humour too (laughs), he’s an awfully funny guy. To a degree, I did get it in ‘The A-Team,’ but I had other issues. But with this, I realised that he’s a funny funny guy. He made us belly laugh so many times, and over stupid little things. We were like a little boys club laughing over silly jokes (laughs). He’s a good laugh, a great director as well.

How was it for you Joe, working with Liam again, especially with a role so dark?

Joe Carnahan: Liam so completely rendered the character of Ottway so thoroughly that I can not imagine another actor playing him. I certainly can’t imagine another actor playing it with the depth of feeling and the gravitas that Liam brings to everything he does. It’s a heartbreaking performance. It’s just a beautiful piece of film acting. In the film, there’s not a performance, there’s not a false beat in any of those performances. And that I give fall credit to those guys. They lived it, they breathed it – you could just see it. There’s nothing fake about it.

Liam, how did you find working in the harsh conditions?

Liam Neeson: I did have a couple of weak moments in the first couple of days shooting. I thought that we would never survive this. I thought that it was physically impossible because your brain would just freeze. You’ve got lines to memorise and say, actors to act with, but all you can think about is, “How can I stay warm?” Just as a human being, not as an actor. Then we got over that, we had a good laugh. We had a great journey, there was a lot of camaraderie.

The film is a gritty survival thriller, but there’s also something working beneath the surface, it raises some essential questions….

Joe Carnahan: Oh yeah. It’s a survival film, it’s a plane crash, you have guys jumping off cliffs, fighting off wolves – all those thing are firmly in place. But I think that’s where the similarities end to other survival thrillers. On the other side you have a completely different movie, it’s contemplative, you have guys talking about their mortality, on what it means to live, what it means to die. And these are essential questions to me, as I get older they become more essential.