Steve Buscemi Quotes

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Steve Buscemi

Profession : Actor

Birth : December 13, 1957

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

Steve Buscemi

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

Steve Buscemi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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