Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi
Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemiis an American actor and film director. Buscemi has starred and supported in successful Hollywood and indie films, including Parting Glances, New York Stories, Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs, Desperado, Con Air, Armageddon, The Grey Zone, Ghost World, Big Fish, and The Sopranos. He is also known for his appearances in many films by the Coen brothers: Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy, Fargo, and The Big Lebowski. Buscemi provides the voice of Randall Boggs in the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actor
Date of Birth13 December 1957
CityBrooklyn, NY
CountryUnited States of America
To me, score is really important. I would rather not have any score if it's something that's going to detract from the film. So often when I watch films, the score is what really bothers me.
When I was doing stand-up, I was about twenty, and I really think that that's a little too young. I didn't have a whole lot of life experience to draw on.
With Animal Factory you'd think that because it's mostly interiors, you could shoot it anywhere. So we shot this in Philadelphia, and we had the cooperation of the prison system.
It's not like I'm looking for things that I can direct that I can also act in, but when it's right, I feel like the actor side of me wants to have that opportunity.
It's weird; I was not a really tough guy in high school, but I end up playing all of these psychopaths and criminals. I don't really care who they are, as long as they are complicated and going through something that I can understand and put across.
It's great working with Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. Those guys are really funny.
When I moved to the East Village in the late seventies, I wanted to be a street performer, so I practiced daily. I never did work up the skills or the courage to perform on the street, though.
When I get cast, I always flip to the end of the script to see if my character gets beaten up or killed.
They're not thinking of how it's going to please a mass audience, ... They're really writing it for themselves, and trusting there's an audience out there for what they have to say. Whenever you make a film, there's always compromises you have to make just to get it made, but you really have to ask yourself, 'How much am I willing to compromise to get it up on screen?' and at what point do the compromises mean that you're not really making the movie you wanted to make.
I think it's important to create an atmosphere where actors feel like they can try things out. It doesn't mean that I'll take every suggestion, but I want there to be some room for actors to grow.
I read the script and decide if a particular character looks fun to play. I look for complexity and a sense of humor. Those are crucial, real things to life.
I never know what I'm going to get. A 'Sopranos' fan is very different from a 'Big Lebowski' fan.
I like the struggles that people have, people who are feeling like they don't fit into society, because I still sort of feel that way.
On big films there is a lot of pressure on the director, because they have so much money. The way I approach it as an actor is pretty much the same.