Trick that truck: How Liam Neeson would customize his own big rig
With The Ice Road in view, Liam Neeson tells us what he's packing for a long stretch of road.
Film Features Liam Neeson
In the new Netflix movie The Ice Road, Liam Neeson plays Mike, a down on his luck trucker with serious semi skills and a desire for some quick cash. Of course, the easy money Mike is offered comes with hidden (and deadly) strings. Oh, and there’s also an ice road. And it’s spring. And the ice is melting!
Given that Neeson spends so much of The Ice Road captaining a $200,000 big rig down a slippery road transversing a barren landscape, we thought we’d ask him what he would do if, for some reason, he was forced to live his life in a truck. Is he a bobblehead man? Would he opt for flames on the side of the cab, or is he more into dignified pin-striping? And what about those beaded seat cushions?
As it turns out, Neeson—an actor who has appeared in numerous films where he pilots or commands some kind of transportation, from plane to train—isn’t much of a driver. As Neeson tells us in the interview above, “I got my driving license when I was 28. I know nothing about cars. People ask me, ‘What do you drive?,’ and I say, ‘a black one.’”
Still, Neeson has given some thought to his truck trickery. He says he’d opt for “photographs of my kids and stuff, because these guys spend a lot of time there. There’s a bed in the back that’s very comfortable, so definitely family photographs. And, I don’t know, probably a little bit of carpeting here and there just to make a living room.” A literary man at heart, Neeson also told us he’d be sure to bring lots of audiobooks out on the road.
There’s more from Neeson in the clip above, as well as trucking tips from the movie’s other star, Legion actor Amber Midthunder, whose real-life brother is an actual ice road trucker.
The Ice Road is streaming now on Netflix.
Image credit: Allen Fraser/Netflix
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The qualifications that you need to be an ice road truck driver include a commercial driver’s license (CDL) and relevant endorsements and the driving skills to handle extreme winter weather conditions. Most ice road truck driving jobs require you to have a Class A CDL. Depending on your job responsibilities, you may need additional endorsements to carry hazardous materials (HAZMAT) or oversized loads. You can start on this career path by attending a truck driving school and passing a CDL exam. Employers strongly prefer to hire drivers who have previous experience operating trucks in winter weather. This experience can be hard to get, so you may have to work with an experienced ice road trucker. You could say it requires a very particular set of skills.
You could, but you don’t; because that would be dumb
You calling Liam Neesin a bobblehead man? That’s fucked up.
I love this man. So sensible.
Since no one has said it…Liam Neesons is my shit.
Who cares? Make a film that doesn’t suck, please.