Western dreams come true for Brosnan, Neeson

Western dreams come true for Brosnan, Neeson
Thursday September 14 9:27 PM ET

Like many boys of their generation, actors Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson loved to play "cowboys and Indians" and watch western movies at the weekend matinee.

So it was a dream come true for both Irishmen to co-star in "Seraphim Falls," a western epic about revenge and forgiveness set in the 1860s, shortly after U.S. Civil War.

"When Pierce and I first got our costumes on, on horseback ... the pair of us were just giggling like schoolboys," Neeson said on Thursday, the morning after "Seraphim Falls" had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this week.

In the movie, Neeson's character, a former Confederate colonel chases Brosnan, a former Union army captain, from the Rocky Mountains to the desert to carry out his last mission: revenge for an atrocity.

"It was like realizing a childhood dream, I mean that genuinely. I was steeped in the western genre as a kid. Playtime was always westerns: Audie Murphy westerns, all those B-movie westerns, and then graduated to John Ford films," Neeson said.

"Seraphim Falls" was shot on a brisk schedule of 48 days in what the stars describe as treacherous terrain in the Western U.S. In the first 20 minutes or so of the movie, Brosnan is shot, tumbles down a snowy mountainside into a river, and over a waterfall. The pursuit eventually continues into the desert.

The film has very little dialogue and the two stars only filmed together in the same scenes for about five or six days. Brosnan spends most of the film by himself, trying to get away from his pursuer, while battling to survive nature's wrath ahead.

The film also co-stars Anjelica Huston and Angie Harmon.

NORTH-SOUTH PARALLELS

For Brosnan, who plays the ex-Union captain, the Civil War-themed western brought up interesting parallels with the two actors' Irish roots.

"Liam's from the north and I'm from the south," said Brosnan, best known for his role as secret agent James Bond, and who was nominated for a Golden Globe for last year's role in "The Matador."

"That period (of U.S. history) was build on the backs of many an Irish man and woman. There were huge Irish regiments in the Civil War," said Brosnan.

While Brosnan moved to London at age 11, Neeson said growing up with civil unrest in Northern Ireland is also what partly attracted him to be part of a western film about forgiveness.

"I'm living in America now, the country's at war -- with everybody it seems," said Neeson.

"Everybody in the world wants their little plot of ground and have the freedom raise their families, that's what we all want, whether you're Palestinian, Jew, Irish, Yugoslav, whatever," he said.

"I'm aware of the responsibility we all have.... of how important it is to forgive and get on with life. I know that sounds very hippy-ish, but I believe it," said Neeson.

"Seraphim" marks the first feature for director David Von Ancken, who's best known for his television work. It opens in U.S. theaters on December 1.

"It wasn't so much that I was looking for Irishmen to star as mid-19th century Americans," said Von Ancken.

"These guys are some of the more 'behavioral' actors out there. Liam's roles have consistently been of the earth, these empathetic men who he can convey an enormous amount without saying anything. The same goes for Pierce. There's something in his eyes that is haunted and concentrated," he said.

"Every actor as a man probably at some level wants to do a western maybe once."

Reuters/VNU