If you're a millennial like myself, there's a fair chance that you really only knew Leslie Nielsen for his work in comedy. After the actor starred in David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker's "Airplane!," he became an icon in spoof movies, and he continued to make funny films like the "Naked Gun" trilogy up until his death in 2010. Before 1980, however, Nielsen was best known as the serious star of features like "Forbidden Planet" and "The Poseidon Adventure" – and it was specifically the history of that mid-career genre switch-up that convinced producer Seth MacFarlane that no actor other than could star in the upcoming "Naked Gun" legacyquel other than Liam Neeson.
The ability of performers to play their role straight even as events around them get goofier and goofier can make or break a spoof movie, and it very much helps to have serious gravitas in the mix (think about Leslie Nielsen entering the cockpit multiple times in the third act of Airplane! to sternly say, "I just want to tell you both good luck. We're all counting on you.") In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Seth MacFarlane explained that quality makes Liam Neeson uniquely qualified for the role of Frank Drebin Jr.
