Steve Buscemi Quotations

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.'

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

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

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.

I never did improv professionally, but that was certainly in my training as an actor. I like it. Actually, when I did theater, I used to have a partner, and that was the way we used to write a lot of our sketches, through improvisation. So it's something I feel comfortable with.

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

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.

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.

I didn't really like the aloneness of doing stand-up. The comedians by nature weren't very - I mean, they were sociable, but they hung out in cliques, and it's very hard to get accepted; lots of competition.

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

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

My favorite review described me as the cinematic equivalent of junk mail.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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'd say that the director I had most involvement with was Alex Rockwell in 'In the Soup'. It was one of my earliest leading roles, and he gave me a lot of responsibility as an actor.

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.

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.

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.

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

Really interesting things come because you don't know what the rules are, what you can and can't do.

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?

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

I don't tend to think of the characters i play 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.

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.

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

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

I can't relate to 99% of humanity.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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,'

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Nothing's really changed for me over the years. I like telling stories about people with problems. I can't really put it much simpler than that. Relationships are interesting to me. Not just between men and women but fathers and sons, brothers and sisters and friends.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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