First look at Liam Neeson from Martin Scorsese’s Silence

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Back in May, we got a first look at Andrew Garfield and Shinya Tsukamoto (pictured above) from SILENCE, the upcoming historical drama from Martin Scorsese, and now it's finally Liam Neeson's turn. Scorsese has been trying to get a film adaptation of the Shūsaku Endō book of the same name made for almost twenty years and, like Endō's novel, the movie will tell "the story of a Jesuit missionary sent to seventeenth century Japan, who endured persecution in the time of Kakure Kirishitan ("Hidden Christians") that followed the defeat of the Shimabara Rebellion."

Take a look:

While attending the Los Cabos Film Festival over the weekend, Neeson said he lost 20 pounds for his role as a Jesuit missionary, and also added that Scorsese “gives 200%. All he requires is that you give 100%. He’s intimidating. He requires absolute silence on the set — if he hears one tiny sound, it shatters it for him.”

SILENCE doesn't have an official release date set yet, but it may premiere at next year's Cannes Film Festival, and is expected to hit theaters late 2016.