Top 45 Steve Buscemi Quotes

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.’

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

I never had any master plan about directing, and I don’t really write.

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 didn’t think I’d ever be able to do movies. That was for serious actors.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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’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.

I’m terrible at story and structure, but I’m not so bad at writing dialogue.

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

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.

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.

I never know what I’m going to get. A ‘Sopranos’ fan is very different from a ‘Big Lebowski’ fan.

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.

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

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.

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