Bryan is a divorced, retired US government agent-turned-bodyguard who flies to Paris after his 17-year-old daughter Kim is abducted during a vacation in the city. He rescues Kim after tracking down and killing her Albanian kidnappers and the man who purchased her. For over 25 years, Neeson acted in a variety of roles: a Nazi in “Shining Through” (1992), a German businessman who saves the lives of his Jewish workers in “Schindler’s List” (1994), and a sage Jedi in “Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace.
” But “Taken” took the Oscar-nominated actor’s career in a different direction, establishing him as a bonafide action star. Following “Taken,” which earned $226. 8 million at the global box office, Neeson starred in two sequels, as well as action films like “The Grey” (2012), “Run All Night” (2015), “Cold Pursuit” (2019), and “The Marksman” (2021).
While Neeson experienced professional success, tragedy struck almost two months after “Taken” debuted in theaters when his wife, actor Natasha Richardson, died after suffering a head injury while skiing. Neeson has been open about the loss of Richardson in the years since. “She always packed so much into every day, Natasha, that maybe she knew she wasn’t destined to be on this Earth for a long period of time,'” he said during a “60 Minutes” interview in 2014.
Neeson has six projects in the works, including the thriller “In the Land of Saints and Sinners,” costarring Kerry Condon, and “Retribution,” with Matthew Modine. Maggie is Bryan’s 17-year-old daughter and an aspiring singer. After flying to Paris with her friend Amanda, she’s abducted by a group of Albanians who traffic and drug young women, selling them to the highest bidder.
After Maggie is sold in an auction, Bryan rescues her aboard a boat. He takes his daughter back to the US, where she reunites with her mother and stepfather. Grace has appeared in over 30 film and TV projects since “Taken,” including the two “Taken” sequels and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn” parts one and two.
She also had roles in series such as “Californication” and “Fear the Walking Dead. ” Prior to “Taken,” Grace won a SAG award for outstanding performance by an ensemble in a drama series for portraying Shannon Rutherford, a survivor of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, in the hit series “Lost. ” Grace has three upcoming projects, including the thriller “Blackwater Lane” costarring Dermot Mulroney and Minka Kelly, and a comedy called “The Secret Art of Human Flight,” with Sendhil Ramamurthy.
Having married a wealthy businessman after their divorce, Lenore and Bryan’s relationship is sometimes acrimonious, but after Kim is kidnapped, she begs Bryan to rescue their daughter. Since “Taken,” Janssen has reprised the role of Lenore in “Taken 2” (2012) and “Taken 3” (2014), as well as Jean Grey in “The Wolverine” (2013) and “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (2014). The actor also starred for three seasons as Olivia Godfrey, the matriarch of the Godfrey family, in “Hemlock Grove” from 2013 to 2015.
In 2015, Janssen appeared for 10 episodes as death row attorney Eve Rothlo during the second season of the popular series “How to Get Away With Murder. ” Janssen has at least four projects in the works, including the action thriller “Boy Kills World,” with Bill Skarsgård, and the adventure film “Knights of the Zodiac,” costarring Sean Bean. Sam is one of Bryan’s former US government colleagues, who has since turned to private security with several men.
He recruits Bryan for one four-hour stint at the start of “Taken” protecting Sheerah, a 25-year-old pop star. After Kim is kidnapped, Sam does some online sleuthing to identify her abductors. Besides appearing in the two “Taken” sequels, Orser has kept busy with roles in TV series, including “24,” “Ray Donovan,” and “Berlin Station.
” His most recent projects include the now-canceled reboot of “American Gigolo,” starring Jon Bernthal, and a podcast series called “The Callisto Protocol: Helix Station. ” One of Sam’s former colleagues and friends, Casey is a part of Sam’s private security team. He is part of the security detail assigned to protect Sheerah, a young pop star, at the start of the film.
Gries has appeared in many TV and film projects since “Taken,” reprising his role as Uncle Rico in the short-lived animated series “Napoleon Dynamite” in 2012 and appearing for 30 episodes as Dr. Roberts in the show “Dream Corp LLC. ” The actor will next appear in three projects including the crime thriller “The Knife Thrower” and the drama “The Myth of Mathew.
” A former field agent and old friend of Bryan’s, Jean-Claude initially offers Bryan a tip about Kim’s Albanian kidnappers. But after Bryan kills several people involved in Kim’s abduction, Jean-Claude tries to trap Bryan and have him arrested. Bryan eventually learns where to find Patrice Saint-Clair, who runs the human trafficking ring, by visiting Jean-Claude’s home, shooting his wife in the arm, and forcing Jean-Claude to find Patrice’s address from the French Intelligence agency’s database.
Rabourdin, who reprised his role in “Taken 2,” has since appeared in more than 70 films and TV projects, including “Midnight in Paris” (2011), starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams, and “Grace of Monaco” (2014), with Nicole Kidman. The French actor has at least four projects in the works, including the crime thriller “Fox Hunt,” which follows a Homeland Security agent who works with Hong Kong’s Anti-Smuggling Bureau to investigate a car smuggling ring. .
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/taken-cast-then-and-now-photos-2023-1
