“Taken” star Clive Standen says there’s only one thing that separates his character from the one Liam Neeson originated in the film series — competence.
“It’s really a modern-day origin story,” Standen said in an interview with TheWrap’s Stuart Brazell. “He doesn’t have [that special set of skills] yet, so he’s tripping and falling. But he has this forward momentum. He has something you can’t train.”
The protective streak shown in Neeson’s character throughout Luc Besson’s film trilogy will be brought to the NBC series when it premieres on Feb. 27, Standen says. “This guy has this one thing, which is the desire to protect people … But he has to learn to start playing as a team as well.”
While Standen didn’t meet Neeson in person until after they completed filming the pilot for the series, but when they did finally meet, he discovered that both actors had approached the character in the same way — as an ordinary guy thrown into extraordinary situations.
“What I love about Bryan’s character is he’s not as suave and sophisticated as someone like James Bond. He hasn’t got the cool thing to say to the girl or the villain,” he said. “Bryan’s just a bit of a nerd, and that’s what I think is so great about him.”