In the 2008 film "Taken", which actor plays former agent Bryan Mills?

In the 2008 film "Taken," Liam Neeson plays former agent Bryan Mills. Mills is a retired CIA officer and former Green Beret whose specialized skills return when his daughter, Kim, is kidnapped during a trip to Paris.

Directed by Pierre Morel and written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, the film follows Mills as he tracks the Albanian trafficking network responsible for the abduction. Neeson’s performance helped redefine him as an action star, despite the actor initially expecting the project to be a relatively minor release.

The character is often casually described as a former CIA agent, but the film presents him more specifically as a retired CIA operative with extensive field experience. The role continued across Taken 2 and Taken 3, while a television prequel series featured Clive Standen as a younger Bryan Mills.

The film became known for Mills’s threatening telephone speech, which later became an internet meme. Taken was released in 2008 and launched a film franchise.