Liam Neeson has said his hit film franchise Taken is partly to blame for Americans’ fear of international travel.

The actor revealed he received a letter from a school teacher in Texas saying the parents of children in her class withdrew them from a trip to Europe after seeing Taken 2.

“Just the other day I got a letter from a school teacher in Texas who had tried to take 60 students to Europe and the families of 40 of them got the kids out of it because they had seen Taken 2.

“And then this year she wanted to take 20 of them and the parents all said, ‘No because we’ve seen that movie!’,” Neeson told The Graham Norton Show.

The 62-year-old actor said that he was reluctant to do a third Taken film after the second movie was released in 2012 over fears the storyline might “insult” the audience.

“I said the second one wouldn’t happen and I said I wouldn’t do a third one if someone got taken. It’s insulting to an audience as well as me. It’s a good storyline and I’m the hunted instead of the hunter,” he said.

Taken 2 followed Neeson’s character CIA operative Bryan Mills and his wife after they were taken hostage by the father of a kidnapper.

The third film in the franchise, which is released in the UK on 8 January, instead sees Mills accused of a ruthless murder he did not commit.