Liam Neeson Became Frustrated With Christopher Nolan in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

Batman director Christopher Nolan decided to bring back Liam Neeson’s iconic villain for his film The Dark Knight Rises. But when Neeson returned to the franchise, he was a bit caught off guard by Nolan’s secrecy regarding his character.

Liam Neeson had no idea what he was doing in ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

Neeson made a surprising appearance in The Dark Knight Rises. The action star revisited his character Ra’s Al Ghul, which hadn’t been seen since his exit in Nolan’s Batman Begins. But Neeson’s return as the character was as much of a shock to him as it might have been for fans.

“[Nolan] takes it to another extreme — I didn’t know I was in the movie,” Neeson once told Hollywood(via The Playlist).

After Neeson realized he was in the film, however, the actor was further kept in the dark about his character. He’d only receive direction from Nolan without any context behind it. This was a slight point of frustration for the star.

“I went and shot a scene for two hours with Christian Bale. There was a set, and Christian was tied up. I said, ‘Chris, what am I doing?’ [As Nolan:] ‘Um… well, just walk forward, and say the lines, walk back, and that’ll be it, really.’ I said, ‘What the f***? Tell me the story!’ [As Nolan:] ‘Um… I’d prefer not to, really.’ Okay, don’t mind me — I’m just an actor,” Neeson said.

Keeping the secrecy in Rises also presented a few problems for Neeson during the film’s promotion.

“Doing junkets, people say, ‘You’re in Batman!’ and I’d say, ‘I’m not in Batman, I’m really not,’” Neeson said in an interview with Den of Geek.

Liam Neeson once shared what troubled him about past Batman films

Gary Oldman was initially looked at to portray Batman’s nemesis Ra’s Al Ghul. But the Oscar-winner opted out of the offer to play the good guy Commissioner Gordon in Nolan’s picture. This led Nolan to Neeson instead, but Neeson wasn’t immediately on board when the offer came his way.

“When I was sent [the script] I read it with hesitancy,” Neeson once said in an interview with Tribute. “But within three pages I thought, ‘This is something very different.’ For me, the script just operated and worked on so many levels. And I ended up believing how this very rich dude called Bruce Wayne would put on a funky weird costume and fight crime.”

This highlighted one of the main issues that Neeson had with previous Batman films that didn’t explore the character’s origins.

“That’s what always troubled me about the past movie versions. Always. I thought, ‘I’m not interested in that.’ I want to know why this guy dresses up in a weird costume. What motivates him to do this. And I think this film delivers that in spades,” he said.

Liam Neeson would reprise his role as Ra’s Al Ghul in a ‘heartbeat’

Back in 2014, MTV News once asked Neeson about possibly returning as Ra’s Al Ghul even after the Nolan films.

“I would, in a heartbeat, if it came my way, yeah,” Neeson said. “Very much so.”

Still, Neeson was willing to give advice to any other actor who might adopt the character in other Batman projects.

“They have to believe in their philosophy,” Neeson said. “Ra’s al Ghul absolutely believed what he was doing was ultimately saving civilization, and it was quite a good argument he comes up with. Throughout the ages this fraternity, that brought the plague to wipe out a section of mankind because it needed to be regenerated again. Very dangerous, but you have to believe it.”