'Unknown' Star Liam Neeson On Losing His Memory ... For Real

'It was quite frightening, actually,' Oscar winner says of his amateur boxing days.
By Kara Warner

Liam Neeson
Photo: MTV News

Liam Neeson's performance in "Taken" accomplished several impressive feats. One of them is a $145 million haul at the box office, and the other is that Neeson, previously known for more dramatic, actor-type roles, can seriously kick ass onscreen.

In his new movie "Unknown," Neeson plays Dr. Martin Harris, an American man who has traveled to Berlin, Germany, to participate in an international conference. Almost immediately upon arrival, he is involved in a car accident and wakes up in a hospital with no memory of who he is or why he is in the foreign city. As his memory slowly returns, he starts to uncover oddities about his true identity.

When MTV News caught up with the Oscar winner recently, we found that Neeson hasn't just played someone who suffered memory loss, he experienced it firsthand during his younger years as an amateur boxer.

"It was quite frightening, actually," Neeson recalled. "I was about 16 or 17 and it was actually a fight I won on points. And I remember coming out and my father saying, 'Get your clothes on,' and I remember thinking, 'Clothes? What do you mean clothes?' 'Dressing room,' they were alien words to me," he explained. "And after about three minutes, I gradually came back and thought, 'Whoops, I don't like this, I better get out of this game.' "

Regarding the physical demands of "Unknown," as well as "Taken" for that matter, Neeson said that despite many people being surprised at the impressive physicality he displays on film, he's always kept himself in fighting form.

"Oh yeah, for many, many years, I've always done that. I just never advertised it," he said. "Everybody seems to advertise it now, you know? 'How many hours did ya do at the gym?' 'Oh I just did the five [hours].' 'Oh, I did five and a half.' Its sort of like, well f---."

"It's all over, it's a whole cult thing now," he said of fitness fanatics. "But I do it in my own quiet way. I just get on with it and do it."

Check out everything we've got on "Unknown."

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