Maggie Grace is set to reprise her role in the third and final installment of the Taken movie franchise. Grace, who played star Liam Neeson’s daughter in the first two movies, is the first cast member confirmed to rejoin Neeson in the 20th Century Fox/ EuropaCorp triquel, which eyes start of filming at the end of the month.

Separately, Californication alumna Grace has been tapped as the female lead opposite Charlie Cox in CBS’ untitled Wall Street drama pilot, executive produced by John Cusack. Set in the world of Wall Street power and money, the project centers Jackson (Grace), a smart, sophisticated, Wall Street hedge fund trader. Grace will play Jaime, a newly hired in-house legal counsel at the hedge fund who is smart, ambitious, savvy and has a conscience. She was able to close a deal after a lengthy negotiation that involved synching up the dates of the pilot and Taken 3. The pilot will be directed by Niels Arden Oplev from a script by Taylor Elmore and Ben Cavell based on a story the two co-wrote with Cusack and Kevin McCabe. Grace, repped by UTA, Wishlab and Jackoway Tyernan, will next be seen in the features We’ll Never Have Paris and About Alex.

EXCLUSIVE: Famke Janssen has closed her deal to reprise her role in Taken 3, opposite Liam Neeson and Maggie Grace. Another film seemed a natural, since the franchise has done more than $600 million in global box office. Janssen has so far been limited to playing the helpless housewife, and I am not sure if it has occurred to the filmmakers at Europa, but Janssen has a very particular set of skills she has acquired over a very long career, skills that would make her a nightmare for the bad guys who show up in these movies. The Dutch actress first came to prominence as the femme fatale Xenia Onatopp in the James Bond film Goldeneye, as she was cracking guys’ spines like walnuts with her aerobicized thighs. As X-Men’s Phoenix, she nearly destroyed the world with her powers. Neeson’s got to be tired by now, so isn’t it time to give Janssen a chance to kick some ass? She will next be seen in Screen Gems’ A Fighting Man with James Caan and Louis Gossett Jr and Eli Roth’s Netflix series Hemlock Grove. She’s repped by CAA and Brookside Entertainment.

Leland OrserLeland Orser is set to reprise his role as Liam Neeson’s best friend Sam in Fox’s Taken 3. The film begins production at the end of March, with Taken and Taken 2 cast members Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen and Jon Gries also returning. Orser’s recent credits The Guest and the upcoming Faults as well as TV’s Magic City, Revolution and Touch. The actor, who next appears in Paramount’s remake of The Gambler with Mark Wahlberg and Brie Larson, is repped by Gersh and The Burstein Company.

Why do they keep pestering this man?

Poor Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent played by Liam Neeson in the Taken film franchise, comes under the gun yet again when the third installment of the action series hits screens Jan. 9. This time, he's the hunted prey after he's framed for the murder of someone close to him.

"I have to go on the run, I'll put it that way, from the not-so-lawful types and the lawful authorities," says Neeson, choosing his words carefully. "Bryan Mills served his country faithfully, but now even they are after him. They must not like me."

A new generation of fans certainly likes the 62-year-old Irish actor in action roles.

In 2008's Taken, Neeson created mayhem throughout Europe to free his daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace), after she was captured by Albanian thugs during a Paris vacation. The film spawned a 2012 sequel, which saw vacationing ex-wife Lenore (Famke Janssen) and Mills being taken hostage by revenge-seeking Albanians in Turkey, with Kim just avoiding the attack. Combined, the two films took in more than $285 million, according to Box Office Mojo.

"This time, no more traveling," says Neeson. "If my daughter was 'taken' again on a trip, Bryan Mills would have to be certifiably locked up for bad parenting."

Neeson makes no bones about the fact that his character fights dirty to make up for his age. During one fight sequence, Mills even commandeers a defibrillator to take out foes.

"Bryan Mills wants to fight quick, using the dirtiest moves possible to finish," he says. "It's not like, 'Put your fists up, fellow!' Why fight like that when you can kick someone in the kneecap and be done with it?"

The 6-foot-4 former amateur boxer makes clear he enjoys the hand-to-hand screen combat. But he leaves the falls for his longtime stunt coordinator. Neeson throws convincing blows, has a killer phone voice (his "I have a very particular set of skills" line from the first film is a classic) and brings an earnest believability to the role.

"People are attracted to quiet heroes," says Forest Whitaker, who joins the franchise as a pursuing law enforcement agent. "Liam's presence has that. He gives people a sense of comfort and security. And he's an excellent actor."

Through the deadly cat-and-mouse game, the two never directly battle each other, much to Whitaker's disappointment. "There's no big fight between us, which I would have loved," Whitaker says. "That will have to wait until Taken 4."

That does not seem likely. Neeson figures the franchise will close out with this third installment, to be called Tak3n. "It's a rollicking good story," he says. "But I think this is the end."

But his action career can live on: A Walk Among the Tombstones opened this weekend and February's Non-Stop made $91 million in its February opening.

"If I feel audiences saying, 'Come on, he's 62, enough is enough,' I'm very sensitive to that and if I pick up that vibe it will all stop. And I'll start playing dads or grandfathers," says Neeson. "But I keep myself pretty fit and my knees are still great. And it's fun."

Through the deadly cat-and-mouse game, the two never directly battle each other, much to Whitaker's disappointment. "There's no big fight between us, which I would have loved," Whitaker says.