Steve Buscemi Quotes

“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.”

“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.”

“Casting is everything. Getting the person that you imagined is this character and then seeing what they bring to it. That's why you hire them, so why tell somebody first what it is you want?”

“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.”

“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.”

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

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

“I can't relate to 99% of humanity.”

“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 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 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.”

“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.”

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

“I feel my life has more meaning because I am responsible for another life, although I don't have control over what Lucian – my son – is going to do. He's definitely going to carve his own way.”

“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. I don't miss the anxiety of being younger and not knowing what you want or where you’re going.”

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

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

“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'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 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.”

“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'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.”