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" Liam Neesonis in yet another breakneck action movie this weekend, Non-Stop. And just last week Kevin Costner, in the middle of his own career resurgence (he has four films coming out this year), got the Liam Neeson treatment with 3 Days to Kill. Seasoned action stars certainly are in vogue right now, what with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and The Expendables motley crew all mounting heartfelt (if not entirely successful) big-screen returns, but Liam Neeson has been something special in the New Old Action Hero Wave. The Irish actor was an established, talented serious actor whose face we knew and whose work we admired. We never considered him an action type, especially when stacked up next to the practically born-and-bred giants who inhabit The Expendables. Taken both revealed a natural action star we didn&amp;#039;t realize was there all along, and gave a middle-aged actor a new surprising career path. He&amp;#039;s emerged a popular journeyman of the genre. With action flicks struggling outside of superheroics and scrambling for young stars, his success begs the question: What other veteran actors (of the 50-plus-or-so crowd) would excel as action heroes if given the chance? Here are ten for your consideration. Bruce Greenwood  Best known as the fatherly mentor of Captain Kirk, Bruce Greenwood has made a career playing character roles. He has deserved a more serious shot for a while, and with his clean-cut looks and warm but intense demeanor, he is actually the most Neeson-like on this list. Not just by being a fine performer, who has been skirting along the mainstream and is ripe to be plopped right into a worthy action venture. But, like Neeson, Greenwood would be ideally suited to play the loving family man turned effective killing machine to protect his loved ones. Christopher Meloni  Given his talents, it&amp;#039;s actually surprising Meloni hasn&amp;#039;t become an action star somewhere along the way. He&amp;#039;s a natural at playing military men (see Law &amp;amp;amp; Order: SVU and Man of Steel). He&amp;#039;s frequently played roles that revolve around bad-buy attitudes, no-nonsense efficiency, and general badassery. He just plain looks like a Bruce Willis or Jason Statham type with his bald head and imposing physique. It all adds up to an actor who would be ideal for roles with the kind of thuggish brutality of a Daniel Craig Bond or Jason Bourne (give or take a one-liner). Colin Firth  Firth could stand to have his impeccably maintained British civility sullied a little. His inherent charm might make him a natural fit for a suave James Bond, but he&amp;#039;d be much better suited (or at least it&amp;#039;d be more fun for us) venturing into Jason Statham territory (minus the martial arts): stoic, angry, and lethal. Who wouldn&amp;#039;t want to see a stone-faced Mr. Darcy shoot up a warehouse full of bad guys? Daniel Day-Lewis  You might argue our greatest living actor is far too distinguished to engage in shootouts, car chases, and explosions. But think about how his talent and dedication would make him a great, committed action hero. You think Liam Neeson&amp;#039;s Taken monologue was blood-chilling? Imagine what Day-Lewis would do with it. His rough, steely face would be perfect for a wise-ass and/or Dirty Harry-like cop who has seen everything. And you know he would bring a determination to the role that would make Tom Cruise hanging from the world&amp;#039;s tallest building in Mission: Impossible \u2014 Ghost Protocol look like a kid hanging from monkey bars. Emma Thompson  Thompson&amp;#039;s quick wit and natural charm would suit playing a cocky, confident, joke-cracking, eye-rolling action hero (a kind of distant cousin of John McClane). It&amp;#039;s not just that it would be delightfully subversive of Thompson&amp;#039;s fuzzy image to have her wield Uzis in both hands, twirling around while dispatching dozens of henchmen. It&amp;#039;s that you just know she would be so good at it. Because she&amp;#039;s good at everything. Helen Mirren  Yes, Mirren has dipped her toe into action stardom with the Red franchise. But those brief moments of her wielding sniper rifles and machine guns were little more than teases. We deserve not just a full-length action film with Mirren, but an entire sub-career of them. Hell, if the picks on this list were to come true, you can&amp;#039;t deny you&amp;#039;d line up in a second for an entire action franchise built around a Helen Mirren/Emma Thompson team-up. John Hawkes  In Winter&amp;#039;s Bone and Martha Marcy May Marlene, Hawkes demonstrates a remarkable talent for portraying a quiet, threatening intensity. Many great action actors are defined by their ability to promise the threat of violence \u2014 coiled beneath the surface \u2014 even in their quietest moments. Hawkes has that in spades in both films, making it easy to imagine him as a kind of Man on Fire Denzel Washington hero \u2014 cold, steely-eyed, and ruthless when unleashed. Julianne Moore  The immensely talented actress has never been shy with venturing into mainstream action-oriented fare. She&amp;#039;s worn an FBI Kevlar vest or two, and is even co-starring in Liam Neeson&amp;#039;s Non-Stop. But she&amp;#039;s always been on the peripheral and never let really loose. It&amp;#039;s time she got her chance at her own starring vehicle. It&amp;#039;s easiest to remember Moore for her warmer roles, but she&amp;#039;s played stone-faced enough that she would excel in the kinds of roles Angelina Jolie has tackled (Wanted, Salt) and pull them off better. She has that expressive face that will make you believe she&amp;#039;s serious about doing everything in her power to save the world, city, government, or precinct. Liev Schreiber  While the actor isn&amp;#039;t middle-aged yet (he&amp;#039;s currently 46), he&amp;#039;s a prime candidate for this kind of reinvention. He&amp;#039;s sharpened his teeth already on the genre with his excellent Sabretooth turn in the otherwise unexcellent X-Men Origins: Wolverine. His look and potential to deliver a character&amp;#039;s cocky swagger, gleeful descent into violence, and flippant attitude toward it would make him worthy John McClane-like action movie material: the hero who can take a beating with a quip, and dole (both) out in kind. Mads Mikkelsen  Another not-quite-50-yet candidate, he&amp;#039;s nonetheless worth bookmarking. If TV&amp;#039;s Hannibal is any indication, the Danish actor would make a hell of an anti-(action)hero \u2014 the kind you aren&amp;#039;t sure you should be rooting for, but you can&amp;#039;t help enjoying doing so anyway. Or, alternatively, he also has the calm, civil demeanor that could make him the kind of hero (a la Connery&amp;#039;s Bond) who doesn&amp;#039;t break a sweat in an intense shootout or nearby nuclear explosion. Honorable Mentions: Christoph Waltz, Dennis Quaid, Jason Isaacs, Ed Harris "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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