Martin Scorsese’s ‘Silence’ Reveals New Photo, Liam Neeson Shares Details

It feels like we’ve been waiting a long, long time for Martin Scorsese’s next film, even though The Wolf of Wall Street hit theaters just two years ago. The director has been taking his time on Silence, the long-developing passion project which stars Liam Neeson and hits theaters sometime next year. A new photo from the film has emerged offering our first look at Neeson’s character, while the actor has offered a few details on working with Scorsese and the intense commitment that entails.

Stripped of his typical leather jacket and clean-cut action star appearance in the photo above, Neeson looks quite ragged and a bit frail in our first image of the star in Silence. Speaking at the Los Cabos Film Festival over the weekend (via Variety), Neeson revealed that he lost 20 pounds for the role, while co-star Adam Driver also had to slim down his already-thin frame and Andrew Garfield was “a piece of wire.”

Silence is based on Shusaku Endo’s 1966 novel, which follows 17th century Jesuit missionaries who were persecuted during a visit to Japan. Neeson plays a priest who has given up his faith, leading the missionaries to search for him. The actor says the film asks the question “Is there a god?”

On the topic of working with the legendary director, Neeson says that Scorsese “requires a lot of commitment” and “gives 200 percent,” adding, “All he requires is that you give 100 percent.” He also noted that the process was “intimidating” but that Scorsese is quite proud of his new film, which took 23 years of development and was stalled more than once by a lawsuit and continuous delays.

But it seems that the struggles were worth it, as Neeson says that the film is Scorsese’s “true legacy.”

Silence was shot on 35mm, and while it doesn’t have an official release date as of yet, Collider’s report notes that they’re targeting a premiere at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.