Liam Neeson 'Amazed' at Success of 'Taken'

Liam Neeson is back in the highly anticipated sequel to the sleeper hit Taken, in theaters October 5, and he reveals to ET that he was a bit surprised by the monumental success of the original film.

Video: Liam Neeson: Filming 'Grey' Was 'Terrifying'

"It had to be good and I had to be convinced that it was a story that would work, especially after the success of the first one," says Liam. "We were quite amazed when it became a big success."

Taken 2 finds retired CIA agent Bryan Mills in Istanbul on vacation with his wife and daughter (Famke Janssen and Maggie Grace). But when the Albanian kidnappers who first took his daughter – and paid the price dearly for it with a trail of bodies – track him down to get revenge, Mills will stop at nothing to save his kin. And yes, Mills uses his "particular set of skills" with no remorse…

"It's a chance to get back with these wonderful stunt guys again and do these fantastic fights and get to run quite a bit -- which is not as exciting -- but the fighting is, and that's always fun to do," says Liam.

Video: 'Unknown' Stars on Liam's Action-Hero Transformation

Taken 2 is directed by Olivier Megaton (Colombiana) and also stars perennial badass character actor Rade Serbedzija.