10 Movie Performances That Got Too Real

Joe Carnahan's thriller The Grey may not have delivered as much of Liam Neeson punching wolves as its marketing promised, but it did serve up a surprisingly affecting, philosophical meditation on both mortality and man's conflict with nature.

It also arrived in the middle of a curious turning point for Neeson's career, as he threw himself into a host of action-orientated revenge thrillers following the success of 2008's Taken.

Neeson has spoken extensively about doing so in order to distract himself in the wake of his wife Natasha Richardson's 2009 death, which makes The Grey an especially heartrending entry into his filmography.

In the film, Neeson's protagonist John Ottway suffers through the death of his wife, Ana (Anne Openshaw), and as a result plans to commit suicide - though thankfully decides instead to fight for his life at film's end.

It's impossible not to view the film within the context of Neeson's own grief and consider whether shooting it was a cathartic experience for the actor.

Given the sheer number of films he's made over the last decade in which his protagonist is a bereaved husband, it's understandable for audiences to be a little concerned for him.