Liam Neeson Made Sure His Schoolgirl Costume Had a Very Short Skirt for ‘Naked Gun’
Liam Neeson is best known for three things: 1) saying insane things in interviews; 2) his role in Taken; and 3) his general surly demeanor in his films. The latter is part of the reason he was cast for the role of Frank Drebin Jr. — a comedy actor would ruin so many of the bits that make The Naked Gun. That role isn’t meant to be in on the jokes. The film premiered today, which has meant that Neeson has been in full promotion mode for the highly anticipated comedy movie.
That’s how he ended up across from Seth Meyers on Late Night on Thursday. The conversation covered this need for Neeson to play the role straight amid a smorgasbord of tomfoolery. “Obviously you get to play it straight in this film,” Meyers said to Neeson. “The comedy works because you are not aware that anything you are saying is funny.”
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But that didn’t mean Neeson wasn’t breaking. To try to keep a straight face during some of the most absurd scenes with actor Danny Huston, who plays the villain in The Naked Gun, the pair employed a tool so they wouldn’t break. “This is our fourth movie together,” Neeson said of Huston. “So we’re pals. So to stop ourselves laughing — instead of looking into each other’s eyes during a scene, we’d look at the forehead.”
Still, even though he was adopting his classic Serious Cop persona for the movie, it didn’t mean that Neeson had to totally abandon his own sense of humor. That schoolgirl outfit we see Neeson wearing in the trailer for the film? “A lot of this is about physical comedy and how things look,” Meyers said. “I heard that you had a note, actually, in the first scene.”
Meyers flashes an art card showing Neeson in said schoolgirl costume, one leg propped up, revealing bright pink underwear beneath a short plaid skirt. It’s absurd. “I knew it was going to be a young girl’s school outfit,” Neeson said to Meyers. “I just thought — the skirt was originally down to here.”
Neeson then gestured down to his knee. “I thought it should be shorter,” Neeson said. “To show the panties.”
“I mean, they are kind of the go-to part of the joke there,” Meyers replied. “And I think your comedy instincts are very strong there.”
“Thanks, Seth,” Neeson parried back, seemingly with no deadpan whatsoever.
