Though he’s now most known for his action roles, Neeson has a long history of strong dramatic performances.

Liam Neeson has “a very particular set of skills” that he puts into effect after his daughter is kidnapped in the blockbuster Taken. What he also has is a long and very impressive filmography that includes both action-packed thrillers and nuanced, layered portrayals of some very complex characters, both real and fictitious.

And, though he has spent the last few decades making action films, his more textured roles in a variety of genres of the ’80s and ’90s cannot be overlooked. Here is a list of the actor’s finest performances on film.

Oskar Schindler in ‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)

Image via Universal Studios

Perhaps the crown jewel of the 70-year-old’s storied career, Schindler’s List earned him his only Oscar for Best Actor. His portrayal of the German manufacturer who organizes an underground safe-passage route for hundreds of Jewish people being persecuted and killed by the Nazis in World War II is arguably one of the most important biopics ever told.

Neeson’s portrayal of a man torn over his values as a human being and his position as a prominent German industrialist struck a chord with audiences and was rewarded accordingly by the Academy voters.

‘Priest’ Vallon in ‘Gangs of New York’ (2002)

Image via Miramax

Martin Scorsese cast Neeson opposite fellow heavyweights Loenardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day-Lewis in this grim portrayal of life in the slums known as Five Points in New York during the pre-Civil War era.

Neeson plays “Priest” Vallon, the head of a gang known as the Dead Rabbits, a collection of Irish Catholic immigrants who square off with Lewis’ Billy the Butcher and his rival gang, The Confederation of American Natives.

It’s a hard-as-nails, gritty film that laid out the cold, hard reality of life in 1846 New York City. Tensions were high and discord was widespread in an area that was filling up with people from all over the world at the immigration hub of the United States. Neeson’s hardscrabble turn as Vallon, the father of the main protagonist, Amsterdam (DiCaprio), fit right in with all the violent and ill-tempered people at the center of a violent society rife with political corruption.

Daniel in ‘Love Actually’ (2003)

Image via Universal

This romantic comedy, which has officially been anointed a Christmas classic, has a brilliant, mostly British ensemble cast that includes Neeson, Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, and Alan Rickman.

Neeson is engaging as Daniel, a man who is grieving the loss of his late wife, Joanna, but nevertheless trying to remain present for his step-son, Sam (Thomas Sangster). When Sam falls for his schoolmate, who also happens to be named Joanna (Olivia Olson), Daniel happens to meet the lovely mother of another schoolmate of Sam’s named Carol (Claudia Schiffer), sparking a brand-new relationship.

The fillm’s open captures the separate joyous characters as they arrive at Heathrow Airport in London, and Neeson admitted in a 2020 interview that he doesn’t like to watch himself in the film, but that “when things get gloomy in the world, I like to think of arrivals at Heathrow Airport.”

John Ottway in ‘The Grey’ (2012)

Image via Open Road Films

John Ottway is a survivalist and sharpshooter in this film that is based on the short story “Ghost Walker“ by Ian MacKenzie. Neeson drew praise from critics as the suicidal marksman and protector of a group of oil rig workers who get stranded in the icy wilderness of Alaska after their plane crashes.

They must learn to set aside their differences and band together if they are going to survive the brutal conditions and scores of hungry grey wolves that are silently stalking the men throughout the film. Neeson showcases his trademark alpha-male qualities, as he is forced to step up and lead as things get bleaker and more dire by the minute.

Bryan Mills in ‘Taken’ (2008)

Image via 20th Century Studios

These kidnappers definitely picked the wrong American tourist to snatch in Taken, which features one of Neeson’s best roles in one of his most commercially successful films. He plays Bryan Mills, who after apprehensively allowing his daughter Kim (Maggie Grace) to journey off to Europe with a friend, quickly finds out during a phone call that she has been abducted.

He then delivers one of the more iconic monologues in recent film history when he describes, very matter-of-factly, how he is going to use his training and skill-set as an ex-Green Beret and CIA operative to hunt down the people who are planning to traffic her as a sex worker to the highest bidder. The film was huge, spawning two more entries and making almost $230 million in theaters, and showed that Neeson was still more than capable of being an action star that carries a film.

Alfred Kinsey in ‘Kinsey’ (2004)

Image via Fox Searchlight

Neeson takes on the challenges that come with playing a real person in this biographical account of the man at the forefront of sexual research. In 1948, the film shows how Kinsey went about destigmatizing the discussion around sex and pleasure derived from sexual intercourse.

Kinsey documents the researcher’s time growing up under the strict guidelines of a religious father through his teen years and how he started a class at Indiana University to serve as the counter to the established conservative teachings in health-science classes. It’s a well-rounded portrayal of the sometimes controversial figure by Neeson, who stars here opposite Laura Linney. The screenplay was adapted by Bill Condon, the author of his biography on Kinsey and then added details from his own research into the sex educator.

Jean Valjean in ‘Les Miserables’ (1998)

Image via Sony Pictures

As a part of a star-studded adaptation of the classic 1862 French novel by Victor Hugo, Neeson plays the main role of Jean Valjean, a former thief who is imprisoned for stealing food. Nine years later, he is now a wealthy man and mayor when he crosses path with Javert (Geoffrey Rush), who makes it his mission to see that Valjean is arrested and returned to prison after Jean has made a promise to his dying friend Fantine (Uma Thurman) that take care of her daughter, Cosette (Claire Danes).

There have at least nine film adaptations of the Hugo epic about crime and social injustice, and Neeson’s Valjean absolutely ranks near the top of the list of actors who have taken on the part. Neeson brings the prerequisite physicality and transformation to the role, and plays well off Rush’s straight laced Javert. Neeson and Rush combine to provide a strong and clear direction for the adaptation.

Michael Collins in ‘Michael Collins’ (1996)

Set in the years around the first World War in 1918 to 1921, Michael Collins is the biographical account of the famed Irish revolutionary and freedom fighter who waged war with Great Britain to establish Northern Ireland as an independent republic.

Detailing Collins’ use of the IRA and Dublin Brigade to carry out the rebellion, the film is a sweeping epic that includes his trip to the United States to attempt to garner support for his guerilla warfare campaign and for support in the Irish’s fight for its own nation state. Neeson admitted in an interview that he grew up hearing the stories of Collins growing up in Ireland and spent the better part of 12 years gathering information on the history of the legendary rebel. It’s a brutally honest performance that immediately generated Oscar buzz upon its release.

Peyton Westlake/Darkman in ‘Darkman’ (1990)

Image Via Universal Pictures

In his only real foray into the superhero genre, Neeson plays scientist Dr. Peyton Westlake in this revenge thriller, who, after being disfigured at the hands of a diabolical mobster (Larry Drake), engineers himself into a super-human and seeks to settle the score with Durant’s employer (Colin Friels).

His plan becomes more difficult when his self-engineered powers start to have unintended side effects that he struggles to control. One of Sam Raimi‘s early B-movies, Darkman is part superhero movie/part monster movie and features a young Frances McDormand in the role of Westlake’s girlfriend and lawyer. When asked about a sequel last year, Neeson told ComicBook.com, “That’s a good question. I would be very interested in reading the script. Very.”

Gawain in ‘Excalibur’ (1981)

The classic and mythical tale of King Arthur and Round Table is revisited in this epic 1981 drama that sees Neeson take on the role of Sir Gawain. The legendary Arthurian tale is named after the magical sword, and Excalibur was just the actor’s second big screen role after having appeared in only a handful of BBC productions.

The film would be our first glimpse of Neeson as the heroic figure that would later become one of the most prominent character archetypes of his 45-year career. The role came just a few years out of being a part of the Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast, which he joined in his early 20s.

Father Cristóvão Ferreira in ‘Silence’ (2016)

Image via Paramount

Master filmmaker Martin Scorsese worked for 25 years to bring this passion project to the screen, and it was worth the wait. Silence is the gripping, true story of three Jesuit priests who travel from Portugal to Edo-Era Japan in the 17th century in order to spread their Christian views with people unfamiliar with the religion.

Neeson plays Father Cristóvão Ferreira, a man guided by faith who risks his life to spread his message in a time when religious views were suppressed by Japanese authorities. It’s a fantastic film, but also a difficult watch as the priests are forced to suffer greatly for challenging foreign customs. Neeson knew what he was getting into after reading the script saying, “It was an actual torture — many martyrs lost their lives that way and were punished that way in Japan.

We knew exactly what happened and what the pit was filled with, which was human excrement, and they were hung upside down”. Silence also marked the second time Neeson would work with Scorsese, following Gangs of New York.

Harry Rawlings in ‘Widows’ (2018)

Image via 20th Century Fox

Neeson is a bright spot in a supporting role in this film about three women who take to a life of crime in order to cover for the debt owed by Veronica’s (Viola Davis) late husband Harry (Neeson), who was killed during a $2 million heist gone bad.

Michelle Rodriguez and Elizabeth Debicki fill out the main cast in a critically lauded film that debuted at the Toronto Film Festival. Harry’s death leaves Veronica in a pickle when the man he stole from demands the funds back from her. She finds out that Harry has left plans to carry out a $5 million heist in a safe deposit box that they must follow or die trying. Neeson got the opportunity to appear alongside his fellow Irishman Colin Farrell for the first time in this action thriller.