Steve Buscemi Quotes & Sayings

Anything you write, even if you have to start over, is valuable. I let the story write itself through the characters. — Steve Buscemi

Do you think god stays in heaven because he too lives in fear of what he's created here on earth? — Steve Buscemi

The director I had most involvement with was Alex Rockwell. He gave me a lot of responsibility as an actor. — Steve Buscemi

I was very surprised that for a while I could only get cast as straight. It was that way for a few years. — Steve Buscemi

It wasn't until my senior year in high school that I started acting. — Steve Buscemi

Growing up, yeah, I had a magic kit with learn tricks and learn card tricks, but I was never ... I used to watch whatever magic special was on as a kid, but then, it's not that I lost interest, but to be a magician, you really, it's really hard work. Learning lines is hard enough; learning sleight of hand, that's real practice. — Steve Buscemi

I like telling stories about people with problems. I can't really put it much simpler than that. — Steve Buscemi

We both [with Jo Andres] think that it is really important to our culture that we support all kinds of music, all kinds of theatre and all kinds of art because you never know what moves people. We've always believed that there should be a strong voice outside the commercial world. Certainly, the commercial world has a huge place in our culture and we also support that - but, we also want to support the stuff that lives outside of that. — Steve Buscemi

I don't think I'm that much different from any other working actor that's trying to make a living. — Steve Buscemi

I never did improv professionally, but that was certainly in my training as an actor. I like it. — Steve Buscemi

I never made a daring rescue, which is the story people want to hear. I did go to my share of fires. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I had a magic kit. I never really followed through on it, but I had my phase of wanting to do it, sure. — Steve Buscemi

I've always tried to have a healthy take on the characters I play; they are only characters I play. — Steve Buscemi

It doesn't matter to me what the genre is. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

They're not supposed to show prison films in prison. Especially ones that are about escaping. — Steve Buscemi

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 Buscemi

I did stand-up. I loved George Carlin and Steve Martin. — Steve Buscemi

Relationships are interesting to me. Not just between men and women, but fathers and sons, brothers and sisters and friends. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I never want to feel like the way that I see it isthe only way. Sometimes mistakes happen and that's better than whatyou thought the scene could be. You allow room for the possibilities. — Steve Buscemi

I'm terrible at story and structure, but I'm not so bad at writing dialogue. — Steve Buscemi

I've had dentists who have wanted to help me out, but I say, 'You know, I won't work again if you fix my teeth,' — Steve Buscemi

I have a dresser, who literally is a guy who makes sure the tie is right. It's a little bit of a process. I could probably do it by myself, but it would take me three times as long. — Steve Buscemi

I always find that it's when a script is not detailed, then I have to do more work as an actor. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I just like playing interesting, complex, complicated characters. I like films that also have an element of humor. — Steve Buscemi

I could never have imagined the films I've done and the people I've worked with when I was starting out; I certainly did not have a career path. — Steve Buscemi

My greatest hope was to get discovered as a comedian and get on a sitcom. — Steve Buscemi

When I get cast, I always flip to the end of the script to see if my character gets beaten up or killed. — Steve Buscemi

I was really young, just playing with puppets a lot and doing all the voices and acting it out - normal kid stuff. But then I'd hear my mother talking about it to her relatives, marveling at it as if it was something unique. And it made me realize, 'Oh, maybe I do have a talent for something.' — Steve Buscemi

My real training as an actor was when I started doing theatre. — Steve Buscemi

I didn't really like the aloneness of doing stand-up. — Steve Buscemi

By nature, I think I am a pretty private person, and that is what is hard even doing interviews for films that I really love doing, because in some ways, it diminishes the experience that I had. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I've certainly worked with really great directors who haven't acted. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

Just because people want to eat the burger doesn't mean they want to meet the cow. — Steve Buscemi

I'm always looking for other interesting films to either act in or direct. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

What's "God"? Well, you know, when you want something really bad and you close your eyes and you wish for it? God's the guy that ignores you. — Steve Buscemi

I hope I don't make it sound like it's this big to-do, but even putting on real cufflinks takes work. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

Character actors just pile up the credits because you work on a movie for, like, a few days. It's not like I'm the lead in everything I do - far from it. I'm not spending three or four months on a picture; I'm spending three or four weeks. Sometimes three or four days. — Steve Buscemi

Shooting in sequence, I think it intensifies everybody's relationship, the crew, the actors. You have to be very focused, and shooting at night is a challenge because you get tired. I think it requires a special kind of concentration, but it's also exhilarating. — Steve Buscemi

I'm not so in a rush to direct just anything because I'm lucky that I can make a living so far as an actor and not have to worry about that as a director. And so I can be a little more choosy in things I direct. — Steve Buscemi

I usually get freaked out if I'm in a situation where a lot of people recognise me at once. — Steve Buscemi

I was going to buy a van and move to LA so I could secretly pursue acting without any of my friends knowing. — Steve Buscemi

All the roles I play, I don't see any of my roles in films that they're typically leading men. — Steve Buscemi

Casting is everything. Getting the person that you imagined is this character and then seeing what they bring to it. — Steve Buscemi

It's always fun to get to do independent film because I believe that that's the life blood of film. It's about writers and directors who truly have their own vision, and that's hard. — Steve Buscemi

Bob Altman had this relaxed but serious attitude. Everybody loved him. I wanted him to adopt me. — Steve Buscemi

My dad had a temper. I have a temper. Most people I know have a temper. And I think it comes out mostly with your family. I don't think it's unique to the Buscemis, but it's something I've been able to tap into when I play certain roles. — Steve Buscemi

I love working with Scorsese. He's not only a brilliant director and is great working with actors, but he's also a walking human film encyclopedia. It's fun to talk about movies with him. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

Oftentimes you'll see stuff that makes it into the mainstream that has been influenced by things that are clearly not from the mainstream. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I've always loved comedy and growing up it was the comedies that I really responded to. So I don't know how it turned out that once I started acting that I started getting a certain kind of role, that I never saw myself as growing up, so I really love when I get an opportunity to play a [comedian] role. — Steve Buscemi

Trees Lounge is based on my own life. Both my parents like the movie. My father, of course, thinks it's a masterpiece. — Steve Buscemi

Whenever you do something that is in a continuous take, and something that we're not used to doing, because it was all in the details of if you don't make one move seem natural, it can give away all of it. — Steve Buscemi

It doesn't matter what part I play, I try and commit myself 100 percent. — Steve Buscemi

I never had any master plan about directing, and I don't really write. — Steve Buscemi

I've always been interested in character-driven pieces, and my approach to directing is through acting. — Steve Buscemi

I guess I don't think about age too much. I've always felt older than I really am anyway. I'm not dreading getting older and I don't miss the anxiety of being younger. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I don't blame any director for wanting to do something more commercial. That's all part of the business. I certainly have done it, as an actor. — Steve Buscemi

To me, it doesn't really matter how big the part is as long as the part is important to the story. — Steve Buscemi

What if I told you insane was working fifty hours a week in some office for fifty years at the end of which they tell you to p*ss off; ending up in some retirement village hoping to die before suffering the indignity of trying to make it to the toilet on time? Wouldn't you consider that to be insane? — Steve Buscemi

The first movie I had a featured role in was Parting Glances. — Steve Buscemi

The trend now is to shoot in Canada because it's cheaper, and they don't care what the location is. — Steve Buscemi

I didn't think I'd ever be able to do movies. That was for serious actors. — Steve Buscemi

Every day's an adventure when I step out of my door. That's why I usually wear a hat and keep my head low. — Steve Buscemi

When I was a fireman I was in a lot of burning buildings. It was a great job, the only job I ever had that compares with the thrill of acting. — Steve Buscemi

Usually, I only get to work a few weeks on a movie, or I often don't make it to the end of the movie because I'm disposed of. — Steve Buscemi

I've never had a grand plan. I've only just tried to keep open to many different possibilities, have fun and work with people who are passionate about what they do. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I like character-driven stuff. It doesn't matter, the size of the part. — Steve Buscemi

I don't think about the characters I choose to play, analytically or consciously. — Steve Buscemi

There's a certain type of character that you can't help but come in contact with growing up and living in Brooklyn and Long Island. A certain mixture of moxie, heart, and a wise guy sense of humor. — Steve Buscemi

Directing television is really hard - it's so fast. You shoot an hour show in seven days. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I can't relate to 99% of humanity. — Steve Buscemi

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. — Steve Buscemi

I never know what I'm going to get. A 'Sopranos' fan is very different from a 'Big Lebowski' fan. — Steve Buscemi

It's great working with Steve Carell and Jim Carrey. Those guys are really funny. — Steve Buscemi

The thrill of performing - that's something that hasn't changed for me. That simultaneous joy of creating something and sharing it with an audience - it's the same now as it was then, when it was just my cousins' birthday party. — Steve Buscemi

I suppose things are better now, but ... I don't know. People still hate each other, they just know how to hide it better. — Steve Buscemi

It doesn't matter so much where the material comes from, as long as it's good. — Steve Buscemi

I think distribution has become a lot harder. With the whole explosion of digital video, there's just a lot more people making films. Distributors have a lot more choice. I do think there's an audience out there for small films. It's obvious to me what the studios do: they've co-opted independent film. They all have their independent arm. They can afford to crush the competition. — Steve Buscemi

I don't think it's necessary to be an actor to get great performances out of an actor. But I do think it helps me as a director because I know what I like as an actor, and I try to get that to the actors who I'm working with. — Steve Buscemi