Taken TV series is like 24 meets Homeland, says lead actor Clive Standen

​Plus, what advice did Liam Neeson give to his successor?

Clive Standen in NBC's Taken
NBCUniversal Media, LLC

Taken is getting a new TV spinoff - and the prequel will show us Bryan Mills before he learns his "very particular set of skills".

Clive Standen - who plays the younger version of Liam Neeson's character - said Bryan is "just a normal human being" when the show begins.

"What's so great about the Taken series so far is... he doesn't have a super-power," Standen told Digital Spy. "He's not Jason Bourne. He's not James Bond, he's not the cool guy with the witty one-liners.

"Something really traumatic and tragic happens within Bryan's family and he goes on a one-man mission, just like he does in the film, to put right what went wrong.

NBCUniversal Media, LLC

"He's a one-man wrecking ball. So he doesn't have any particular skills [yet] - he just has a desire to protect.

"He's on a path to destruction and the CIA find him and they're the ones who are able to grab him - before he does real damage to himself - and harness him and that is when he starts to learn that particular set of skills."

Bryan will serve as the "moral compass" of a CIA "more interested in torture, and scaring the rest of the world" than in traditional espionage.

"It's whether he goes to the dark side or whether he's prepared to sweep things under the carpet in order to keep America safe," Standen hinted.

"It's a very intelligent drama. I would describe it as a cross between 24 and Homeland. It's far quicker paced than Homeland, but just as intense."

Standen even had a chance to discuss the Taken series with his predecessor Neeson at last month's  Irish Film & Television Awards.


"He was great - we talked about the character, that he's just a normal human being. He told me to keep the heart of him alive and not get too drawn into making him an action man - Jason Statham in The Transporter is the polar opposite to what we're trying to make. 

"And he just said to make it my own, which is great, because I am playing Bryan Mills at the beginning of his journey. He's not a refined CIA agent yet, he's pretty much a rough diamond.

"It's going to be fun, over a series, having many hours to build that arc, to a place where you can believe that when he's in his 60s, he can be the Liam Neeson version."

Taken will launch on NBC in early 2017.

Clive Standen stars in Vikings, with season 3 airing Tuesday nights at 10pm on History.

Vikings star Clive Standen: 'There's too much sex and violence on cable shows nowadays'

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