Liam Neeson Worked As A Forklift Operator Before Fame

Before he was a part of the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, Liam Neeson worked as a forklift operator at a Guinness factory in his native Northern Ireland.

Neeson was on the show to promote his new horror film, “Cold Storage,” which is set to premiere in the United States on February 13.

The “Schindler’s List” star also spoke about the fortuitous circumstances that eventually led to his first-ever acting role.

According to Neeson’s profile on the British Independent Film Awards website, one of his earliest jobs before fame was working as a forklift operator at a Guinness factory in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, where he grew up.

The actor reflected on that period of his life during his conversation with Meyers on “Late Night,” where he shared more details about the job.

“I had to stack the Guinness, and then load the lorries with Guinness that would then go out to various pubs,” Neeson explained, while joking about his clumsiness on the job. “Yeah, I dropped quite a few crates.”

The BIFA profile also lists several other jobs Neeson held before his acting days, including stints as a truck driver and an amateur boxer.

After years of working various odd jobs to make ends meet, Neeson finally landed his first acting role when he joined a production of “The Risen People” at the Belfast Lyric Players Theater.

However, he feels that the circumstances behind how he secured the part were largely a matter of chance.

Neeson told Meyers that he was cast in the play simply because the production needed someone of his stature.

“What I think got me the part when I called up for an audition, the lady Mary O’Malley, who formed the theater 75 years ago, she said, ‘What height are you?’” Neeson recalled. “I said, ‘Six foot four.’ ‘Can you be up here next Tuesday?’”

Neeson took another trip down memory lane on “Late Night,” this time when he spoke about the grueling makeup process he endured while filming “Darkman.”

“Five hours of makeup underneath that wrap,” Neeson said, referring to the heavy prosthetics he used for the role. “Eventually, they got it down to three and a half.”

In the 1990 cult classic, Neeson portrayed scientist Peyton Westlake, who gains superhuman abilities after an experimental procedure and seeks revenge against the criminals who brutally attacked and disfigured him.

In 2009, Neeson was awarded an honorary doctorate by Queen’s University, Belfast, where he had actually previously enrolled for an undergraduate degree in physics and computer science.

The future Hollywood star was at the school for only about a year, after which he said he failed his exams and flunked out.

Because of this, he remembers being embarrassed when he was offered the honorary degree, which he felt he had not earned.

“I didn’t study. I didn’t do essays and stuff,” Neeson said. “I was a wee bit like, ‘Really? Thanks, guys.’”

Neeson was on “Late Night with Seth Meyers” promoting his new science fiction horror film, “Cold Storage.”

The movie tells the story of two workers whose world is turned upside down after a contagious, parasitic fungus is accidentally released from a former military base beneath the self-storage facility where they work.

Georgina Campbell and Joe Keery play the leads, Naomi and Travis. Neeson plays a retired bioterror specialist called Robert Quinn, who is called upon to help deal with the outbreak.

In an interview with SFX Magazine, Keery spoke about what it was like to work with Neeson.

“Liam is killer. We grew up with his movies, so this was pretty crazy,” Keery said, per Parade. “Working with him was checking a big box for me.”