All these directors, and I would include the Coen brothers and Quentin, have a very unique vision of what they want. They listen to ideas and make people feel like everyone is making the film.
Anything you write, even if you have to start over, is valuable. I let the story write itself through the characters.
As an actor, we like to hear how it's gone. We like to have the pat on the back.
Bob Altman had this relaxed but serious attitude. Everybody loved him. I wanted him to adopt me.
Cassavetes, I saw all his films in a period of about 10 days. In his work, I loved the raw energy that I was seeing.
Communication is the key, and it's one thing I had to learn-to talk to the actors. I was so involved with the visual and technical aspects that I would forget about the actors.
Directing television is really hard - it's so fast. You shoot an hour show in seven days.
For me it's always about complex characters who are somewhat unpredictable, going through some sort of a struggle.
I did stand-up. I loved George Carlin and Steve Martin.
I didn't really like the aloneness of doing stand-up.
I didn't think I'd ever be able to do movies. That was for serious actors.
I don't really consider myself a writer. Trees Lounge was really hard for me to write. Right know it's more important to keep directing.
I don't tend to think of these characters as losers. 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.
I never made a daring rescue, which is the story people want to hear. I did go to my share of fires.
I talked with Quentin about where the character came from, and he told me Kansas City. I don't know how somebody talks from Kansas City, so I made him from New York.
I think all comics borrow from each other. Only a few have an original voice, and I wasn't one of them. In the end, I couldn't figure out who to steal from, so I stopped doing it.
I usually get freaked out if I'm in a situation where a lot of people recognise me at once.
I was going to buy a van and move to LA so I could secretly pursue acting without any of my friends knowing.
I was very surprised that for a while I could only get cast as straight. It was that way for a few years.
I'm terrible at story and structure, but I'm not so bad at writing dialogue.
In the beginning, it wasn't even a question of deciding I'm going to do independent film and not commercial films - I wasn't being offered any commercial films, and there wasn't an independent scene.
It doesn't matter so much where the material comes from, as long as it's good.
It doesn't matter to me what the genre is.
It doesn't matter what part I play, I try and commit myself 100 percent.
It wasn't until my senior year in high school that I started acting.
It's really hard for me to articulate to a composer what it is that I want. I just don't know how to talk about it.
My favorite review described me as the cinematic equivalent of junk mail.
My favorite review described me as the cinematic equivalent of junk mail. I don't know what that means, but it sounds like a dig.
My greatest hope was to get discovered as a comedian and get on a sitcom.
My real training as an actor was when I started doing theatre.
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.
Quentin was so passionate and enthusiastic about what he was doing that it touched us all. We really wanted to do a good job for him.
The director I had most involvement with was Alex Rockwell. He gave me a lot of responsibility as an actor.
The first movie I had a featured role in was Parting Glances.
The independent films I've done, it feels more like a family effort and people are doing it because we love it.
The trend now is to shoot in Canada because it's cheaper, and they don't care what the location is.
They're not supposed to show prison films in prison. Especially ones that are about escaping.
Trees Lounge is based on my own life. Both my parents like the movie. My father, of course, thinks it's a masterpiece.
What was frustrating about Armageddon was the time I spent not doing anything. It was a big special effects film, and I wasn't crazy about pretending I was in outer space. It feels ridiculous.
When I lived on Long Island I used to hang out in bars and drink a lot, and I didn't have anything else going on.
When I was in pre-production for Trees Lounge, I was hearing the cinematographer talking with the production designer about colours and this and that, and feeling like I was losing control.
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.
Steve came 52nd in Empire magazine's "Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list.
On March 4th 2005, Steve was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award as part of Valley Stream Central High School's 75th anniversary celebration.
Steve's infamous for the amount of on screen deaths he has. Ironically, in the movie Resevoir Dogs he is believed to be the only character to survive.
Alongside his acting career Steve has directed many films, as well as four episodes of The Sopranos.
Steve is frequently typecast as sleazy or crazed characters in many of his films.
In 2003, as part of a year-long tourist promotion at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Steve narrated the facility's audio tour.
Steve went through a variety of interesting jobs before hitting it big as a character actor. He worked as a bartender, drove an ice-cream truck, attempted stand-up comedy, and (that which he is most proud of) was a firefighter (he continues to be a volunteer fire-fighter). He bombed so bad as a comic one night another comic took his place,
Steve bears such a strong resemblance to writer-director John Waters so much so that as a joke, Waters sent out cards with a photo of Buscemi made up to look like Waters.
In April, 2001, Steve was stabbed in the throat, head and arm during a barroom brawl at the Firebelly Lounge in Wilmington, North Carolina. The brawl also involved
Steve was a New York City Fireman from 1980 to 1984, with Engine Company #55 in the Little Italy section of NY.
Steve attended Nassau Community College, then moved to Manhattan to study acting at the famed Lee Strasberg Institute.
Steve is of Italian and Irish-American ancestry.
Steve has a son named Lucian Buscemi, who was born in 1991.
Steve really gets annoyed with the often mis-pronounciation of his name. The correct way to say it is "boo-sem-me."
You can share a link to this page with your friend!