The Hard Luck and Beautiful Life of Liam Neeson

Esquire really has some incredible stories so I decided to keep look at articles from Esquire. This time I didn't just stumble upon anything by accident, i very purposefully typed in my favorite actors name into the search bar. Liam Neeson. I was really excited by all of the article's that popped up. I clicked on the very first feature "The Hard Luck and Beautiful Life of  Liam Neeson".

Author Tom Chiarella did a great job with this article. He exposes one of his techniques right away, which I liked. While interviewing Neeson, Chiarella traded stories with him about his own pain which helped Neeson feel more comfortable and open up, he realized he was talking to a guy not just a reporter. This trust is important when writing a feature like this, you have to get your subject to feel comfortable and the best way to do that is to be human with them. I think alot of people have the misconception that journalists have to be objective, can't get attached or involved but that doesn't help create great stories. Human emotion helps create these great stories.



Liam Neeson photo credit: Nigel Perry, Esquire March Issue

This article really let you get to know Neeson as a person. His concern from his families safety in Northern Ireland from the IRA was something i really like that Chiarella included. You forget how rough it can be over there and it was a good way to quietly demonstrate that.

I think it's also ironic that his son is so protective of him, in Neeson's movie Taken he was the protective one but in real life, his son is just as protective.

My favorite part of the article was when Neeson was talking about his motorcycle accident. Chiarella let Neeson tell the whole story and you got more of a glimpse into Neeson and his persona. Personally, I loved that his Irish demeanor showed. It reminds me alot of my parents, the way he says things and the way he describes them, I can picture exactly how he'd say it.

When Neeson talks about Richardson's accident, what it was like in the hospital, the chaos, you can almost feel what he feels. I think it's funny no one recognized him and when someone finally did he was grateful, it mustve been really upsetting not being able to see his wife and frustrating that no one knew who he was, if they did he wouldn't have had an issue seeing her.

Chiarella did a great job with this article, the way it was organized, the details, the window into Neeson's life was all done really well. I now have two esquire writers that i plan on following.