Liam Neeson's Stunt Work for 'The Mongoose' Draws on Nearly 30 Years Behind the Camera

Mark Vanselow, stunt coordinator and stunt double since 1998, has doubled for Neeson, and is drawing on his experience to deliver the actor's best action film in years.

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Liam Neeson's new thriller The Mongoose is one of the actor's best genre vehicles since Taken nearly 20 years ago made him one of the world's biggest action stars. Fast-paced, funny, and often surprising in its subtlety and emotional depth, the story of a Special Forces vet who misleads the police on a high-speed chase features both some of Neeson's best career set pieces (especially the soaring helicopter chase) and one of his loosest, quietest performances. He seems to be having a really good time and his positive vibes are contagious.

That Neeson is so comfortable in "Mongoose" probably has something to do with the director at the helm, Mark Vanslow. "Mongoose" is Vanslow's feature directorial debut, but he's hardly a newcomer—as a stunt performer, stunt coordinator, and second unit director, he has over a hundred credits to his credit. More than 30 of them are in films he made with Neeson, who first doubled with the actor in 1998's Gun Shy. RELATED STORIES: 'Whalefall' Review: Austin Abrams Battles Daddy Issues in Brutal Survival Thriller From 'You Can See Everything' to '14th' and 'Musk' DOC NYC 2026 Shows Impressive Awards List

Since then, Vanselow has been Neeson's understudy (and, in many cases, stunt coordinator and more) in more than 30 films, including last year's "The Naked Gun" — another film that found Neeson in a fresh, relaxed mood. Vanslow credits Neeson with encouraging and supporting him as he moved into new roles over the years, and fighting to get him on overseas productions like the "Taken" films, where it was easier for producers to hire locally.

"Liam was really involved in the fight for me every step of the way," Vanslow said. "When I transitioned from stunt work to other jobs, he almost saw those qualities in me before I did." Together, Neeson and Vanslow tried not to settle for established ways of doing things, often finding new ways to stage the action that involved battling filmmakers and financiers more comfortable with the status quo — luckily, Vanslow as director meant he and Neeson could try whatever they wanted in "Mongoose" without fear.

It also meant they could work more efficiently. "A lot of times, as a stunt coordinator or second unit manager, you're trying to act on the director's vision," Vanslow said. And then you're in a situation where you might not have a chance to talk about it, and you have to decide, "What do I think the director wants here?" So we shoot at different angles to give them more material to work with. But you as a director say, "I don't need to have that - but I do."

By meticulously planning the film with his department heads, Vanslow was able to shoot "Mongoose" in 35 days, a tight schedule given the film's scale and ambition. A key factor was reuniting with cinematographer Tom Stern, with whom Wenslow and Neeson had previously worked, and who he quickly became accustomed to working with during his days with Clint Eastwood. "With Tom, you don't wait to go, it's just there," Vanslow said. He is a magician with these pictures and you don't have to wait.

Vanselow was careful to make full use of preparation to get everyone on the same page. "We worked really hard to get everyone pulling in the same direction," Vanslow said. "Sometimes you work on a movie and you feel like everyone's going in different directions, and being in that position, I worked really hard to be clear about what we were doing."

This resolution was necessary not only due to the speed of the shoot, but also due to the location challenges, as "Mongoose" doubled Australia for the United States. As part of the preparation, Vanslow drove the exact route Neeson's characters drove across the United States, filming every stop along the way. He gave the material to his production designer and other collaborators, enabling them to find locations in Australia that would serve as convincing facsimiles.

Coordinating all parts of the autoheads and prep units allowed Vanslow to focus heavily on performance during the actual shoot, which paid off not only for Neeson's work but also for the supporting cast. One of the real joys of "Mongoose" is how tight the ensemble is, with good contributions from Marisa Tomei, Ving Rhimes, Michael Chiklis and other actors who match Neeson's passion and intensity. For Vanslow, who started out as an actor himself, working on dialogue scenes is not that different from stunt shows.

"A fight dance is just a non-verbal communication," Vanslow said. "You look at it the same way. I really wanted to do a character-driven story, and we worked on peeling it back like an onion. At first, it seems like it's just a car chase, and that brings you into the theater. As you get deeper, a little more happens, so that it's not just action for action's sake. I could create the environment for the actors as best as I could."

"Mongoose" opens in theaters on Friday, October 30.