Text by Mila Zuo
Steve Buscemi. Nearly a household name, but only a few fans could name every single contribution he’s made to theater, film and television. To say that the “Indie King” (as doting fans on the Internet call him) has carved out a prolific career would be a vast understatement – but for the record, Buscemi has 100 credits listed on IMDB. Those giant blue eyes, expressively lithe eyebrows and unmistakably nasal Brooklyn accent are inextricably linked with the institute of independent cinema. Buscemi phones on an uncharacteristically warm day in New York while San Francisco weeps from its skies.
While many biographies cite senior year of high school as the moment Buscemi set his sights on acting, the truth is that he is a naturally born performer. “I think it started off with trying to get people’s attention, and seeing what works, getting laughs and liking that, and then just having an interest in movies.” After high school, Buscemi worked as a New York City firefighter while also trying his hand at stand-up comedy for four years before attending the Lee Strasberg Institute for drama where he was dicovered by the late director Bill Sherwood.
Over the past two decades, Buscemi has since become the ultimate character-actor, easing in and out roles from no-tipping Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs to awkward audiophile Seymour in Ghost World to weaselly crook Carl in Fargo. Buscemi has a way of brightening any film he appears in, however transient his role; even Hollywood blockbusters like Con Air are somehow redeemed by Buscemi’s presence.
Working with heavyweights like the Coen Brothers, Jim Jarmusch, Robert Altman and Quentin Tarantino has primed Buscemi for his own directorial efforts. This month sees the release of his third feature-length film Lonesome Jim, which stars Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler. “[The script] was a comedy about depressed people but the movie itself to me was not depressing. It was funny,” Buscemi says.
A tender but dark-ish comedy about a young man plagued by “chronic despair,” Lonesome Jim follows Jim (Affleck) as he returns home to a dismally gray Indiana after feeling defeated by the Big Apple. Jim’s mother Sally lavishes him, calling him her “pretty boy” while his father is indifferent towards him. Jim’s brother Tim, a sad badge of mediocrity, tries unsuccessfully to kill himself, forcing Jim to take over his factory job. Jim gets involved with Anika the nurse (Tyler), and the two ultimately find comfort in each other as they inch towards a tempered romance.
Every actor gives a sincere, honest performance with enough ambiguity to maintain mystery and complexity. “I always find it interesting when there’s a lot going on with each character. I really love ensemble films.” Buscemi adds, “If you look at any character in Lonesome Jim, I think they’re worthy of their own movie because they’re that interesting.” For example, Mary Kay Place, who plays Sally, gives one of the more thought-provoking performances, subtly gesturing towards the undertow of discontent within a selflessly maternal guise. (Place was initially suggested for the role by Buscemi’s wife, and he knew she would be “perfect” in giving the role a “sort of dignity.”) Mark Boone, Jr., whom Buscemi used to do theater with in the ’80s, also delivers a brilliantly comedic performance as a skull-collecting big guy who negates any toughness he could have by riding around town on a little scooter.
Despite having three feature films under his belt along with three directorial turns for “The Sopranos” and one for an episode of “Oz,” Buscemi is reluctant to articulate his method or approach. “I feel like I’m still a novice in some ways,” he admits. His humility is matched only by his eagerness to constantly take on new challenges in the industry. “It helps to be naive and innocent when you’re going into a business like this because it really is quite difficult… But I think the good things are worth struggling for, so I really don’t have any complaints because I’m getting to do what I wanted to do.”
Buscemi just completed work on Delirious, a project that reunites him with Tom DiCillo, director of the indie cult film Living in Oblivion. Buscemi will then direct and star in Interview with Sienna Miller, which will remake a film by Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh, who was killed by a Muslim extremist a year ago.
I stumbled across a website unabashedly titled “Steve Buscemi is GOD,” and it didn’t surprise me that an actor like Buscemi, as opposed to some young Hollywood buck, would elicit such fandom. Buscemi brings something to the screen at once comic and tragic, encompassing the Every Man with distinctly counter-Hollywood looks and bravado soaked in satire and cutting wit. Flexing God-muscles from the director’s seat in Lonesome Jim, he divines the comedy in despair.
