Back in 1994, Matt LeBlanc’s “Friends” character Joey Tribbiani nearly got his big acting break when he was cast as Al Pacino’s butt double. As it turns out, that’s a real job, and one that Liam Neeson took advantage of in his new movie “The Naked Gun.”
In theaters on Friday, Aug. 1, the film sees Neeson star as Frank Drebin Jr., son of Leslie Nielsen’s character from the original films. Like his father before him, Drebin works on the Police Squad and is delightfully dumb. In fact, as soon as Neeson sat down at “The Late Show” on Wednesday night, host Stephen Colbert complimented the actor by calling the film “one of the dumbest things I’ve ever seen.”
As the interview went on, Colbert called out some of the movie’s highlights, including the fact that Neeson’s character ends up having sex with Pamela Anderson’s character.
“I only bring it up because we’re trying to move tickets here, OK? Put some asses in seats,” Colbert explained. “We actually see your bare bottom in this movie, briefly.”
As the audience whooped and hollered for Neeson, the actor had a secret to share.
“I wish I could say it was mine, it’s not,” he admitted.
When Colbert clarified that that meant Neeson actually had a butt double, the star confirmed it, joking that “it’s in the contract.”
At that, the late night host questioned whether Neeson at least got to weigh in on the actor whose derrière was chosen to play his, adding that “it’s really nice.” Neeson laughed at the suggestion, but said he “trusted” those behind the scenes to do it, before feigning seriousness.
“Stephen, just — let’s change the subject,” he said.
You can watch Liam Neeson’s full appearance on “The Late Show” in the video above.
