Christopher Nolan, the great Maestro in the world of filmmaking, once took things too far for a film that starred Liam Neeson (Taken) in a major role. The director is known to make minimal use of CGI for films, except for 2014’s Interstellar. 

The director made Liam Neeson push his limits for what would become the most chilling experience of his life (quite literally) as the actor told on Jimmy Kimmel Live two years ago. He initially refused the film as Nolan recalled during a Tweak India interview two years ago.

Liam Neeson

It wasn’t just Neeson, but his co-star had the same opinion on the film’s terrifying scene as well. The producer of the film, Charles Roven, later said that the harsh shooting location didn’t stop Nolan, as per Slash Film.

Nolan, in Batman Begins (2005), approached the DC character with a more grounded take, and for that, he took the lead Christian Bale and Neeson near a crackling glacier.

Liam Neeson Was Terrified By Batman Begins’ Location

Batman Begins had Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne and Liam Neeson’s Ra’s al Ghul train with swords whilst being surrounded by ice. The chilling weather and the glaciers, as he said in the interview, weren’t CGI.

Christopher Nolan’s choice of location, as the actor said, was Iceland. The sword fighting on top of a glacier became a death-defying experience for both actors.

Liam Neeson as Ra’s al Ghul in Batman Begins

“Seeing this ice buckle and then settle again, was very, very frightening. And then they’d say ‘Okay, go back on the ice again!’ So Christian and I’d be looking at each other like, ‘Should we be doing this?’”
Chicago Tribune interviewed Christian Bale prior to the release when he said that the location was horrifying as there were “big cracks appearing down it” and the cast had to be nimble with their footwork.

Christopher Nolan Employed Ice Wranglers For The Crew

Charles Roven said, according to Slash Film, that Christopher Nolan’s preferred location even had 75-mile-an-hour winds, and that made it difficult for the cast and the crew to do their jobs. Liam Neeson was confused as he couldn’t figure out the point of shooting in an extremely dangerous location.

Liam Neeson and Christian Bale in Batman Begins (2005)

“We were having — I was teaching him how to fight with these little swords, and we were literally fighting at the base of this huge glacier that had a pond of ice at the front, and we had ice wranglers. So, Christian and I would be on doing our dialogue and fighting, and suddenly the ice wranglers would shout ‘Stop, everybody off the ice,’ and we’d all come off very quick, and this glacier would move maybe two inches,” he said.
Neeson is known for physically challenging films as he has been the most sought-after action hero during his prime years. Batman Begins starred Cillian Murphy, Katie Holmes, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman.