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Liam Neeson Channels ‘Taken’ for Mall Santa Audition on the ‘Late Show’

Liam Neeson stopped by the Late Show with Stephen Colbert recently, where he joined in the holiday fun that is celebrities dressing up as Santa Claus. Colbert showed a video of Neeson auditioning for the role of a mall Santa, all while channeling one of his most famous roles: Bryan Mills from the Taken franchise. Neeson’s years of experience as an actor were obvious when he really started to dive deep into the role of Santa — trying to figure out who Santa is, where he’s coming from, and why he does what he does … and it was terrifying.

“He’s making a list. Naughty. Nice. He’s detailed. He’s single-minded. He’s an eye in the sky bringing swift judgment,” Neeson said of Santa.

The actor played it like a real audition, even going back and forth with the would-be casting director about exactly how to play the character of mall Santa. And the way Neeson’s Santa menacingly says “I see you when you’re sleeping; I know when you’re awake,” again channeling Mills, would be enough to keep a child up at night. But the children aren’t the ones who should be scared. Neeson had a message for a certain fictional reindeer.

“Let me tell you something about that reindeer that ran over grandma: I will look for him. I will find him. And I will kill him,” Neeson said, parodying his lines from the first Taken film.

Watch Neeson’s full audition here:

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airs weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on CBS.

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