Liam Neeson's A-Team awe

Aug 1, 2010, 5:00 GMT

Liam Neeson initially found working with Bradley Cooper "terrifying".

The 58-year-old actor co-stars with 'The Hangover' hunk in 'The A-Team' and admits he struggled at first to keep up with his younger co-stars.

He recalled: "We did a scene in the van which was my first time with Bradley. He starts this improvisation, prompted by the director, and I'm there going, 'What the hell is this?' So it was terrifying for the first few days, and then it got to be inspiring actually."

However, Liam's co-stars - which also included Jessica Biel and Sharlto Copley - admit that his presence on the set encouraged them to work harder.

Bradley explained: "It was like stepping on the court with Michael Jordan how it raised everybody's game.

"That's just what happens when you get a talent like that to work with."

Liam had to die his hair white for the role of John 'Hannibal' Smith in the movie and rather than worry about the aging effect it would have on his appearance, the actor embraced his new look.

He said: "It was the director Joe Carnahan's idea originally. But I'm a huge Lee Marvin fan so I basically wrapped my character around a vague impression of Lee Marvin of 'Dirty Dozen' fame, which I've watched more than 10 times. I think it was a good choice."