Liam Neeson is feeling the nerves as he gets ready to star in ‘The Naked Gun’ reboot and follow in the footsteps of comedy icon Leslie Nielsen.

Liam Neeson is a “bit nervous” about starring in ‘The Naked Gun’ reboot.

The 71-year-old star will feature in the upcoming movie as Frank Drebin Jr. – the son of Leslie Nielsen’s protagonist Detective Frank Drebin from the original films – and is wary of the expectation that comes with reviving the spoof comedy franchise.

Liam told MovieWeb.com: “I’ve done a couple of, like, TV skits with Stephen Colbert and Ricky Gervais, but those were two minutes, three minutes tops.

“But I’m a bit nervous about ‘Naked Gun’, because it’s a feature film… If he tests it well, which I’m sure he will, Akiva Schaffer is our writer-director.

“And there’s lots of funny gags, lots of funny visual gags happening at the same time while ‘serious things’ are being discussed, you know?”

Liam has underlined that the new film is not a “remake” and explained that more “laugh-out-loud moments” are required in the picture as work continues on the screenplay.

The ‘Taken’ star said: “It’s not a remake. It’s a reboot. It’s a totally different thing. I think we start in May and shoot for a couple of months or so. It’s a good script but it’s still developing.

“You know, there’s about three laugh-out-loud moments, but we need seven or eight.”

Neeson explained that he will be putting his own spin on the franchise as he follows in the footsteps of the late comedy legend Nielsen.

He said: “I’ll do my own thing. I remember Leslie very well. I love those films. Especially that first, ‘Airplane!’ You know, ‘Don’t call me Shirley’. Just that line alone, I think, changed Leslie’s career up until he passed away.”