The Commuter director impressed by Liam Neeson's action skills

Jaume Collet-Serra was amazed by Liam Neeson's stuntwork on the set of The Commuter.

The Spanish director helmed the new action-thriller, which sees Neeson play insurance salesman Michael McCauley who is contacted by a mysterious stranger and asked to identify a hidden passenger on his daily commute before the last stop.

While the Northern Irish actor is known for his action performances in movies such as 2008's Taken and 2011's The Grey, Collet-Serra was thrilled to see the 65-year-old star in full force.

"Liam does all his own fights. He loves it!" he told Total Film magazine. "And he's very prepared; he'll be there for hours rehearsing all the fights, all the stunts with the other actors."

The narrative follows Michael as he works against the clock to solve the puzzle, and shows him as he realises he is caught in the midst of a deadly criminal conspiracy. The majority of the film takes place on a train, and Collet-Serra made the most of the setting.

"A train is a great metaphor for life. You have a journey you want to go on, and you worry so much about your destination... but the key is the journey itself. In The Commuter, we play with the fact that Liam's character, Michael, has been taking this train for a long time, but he's never really gone past his own station," the filmmaker shared.

The Commuter also features Patrick Wilson, Sam Neill, Vera Farmiga and Breaking Bad’s Jonathan Banks. And Collet-Serra was excited to once again collaborate with Farmiga, whom he worked with on 2009's Orphan.

"It was dream to work with her again, together with Liam – my two favourite people!" he smiled.

The Commuter hits cinemas from 11 January (18).