Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi seems deeply suspicious of people who appear too comfortable with themselves. When asked about communication, he says the most important thing between people is simply “having fun.” Even while discussing improvisation and directing, Buscemi constantly frames acting as reacting, explaining how you must stay open enough for another person to surprise you. With an unforgettable face and wry smile, actor Steve Buscemi makes his mark on his viewers and fans alike. A darling of the Coen brothers, he has been in dozens of films: Mystery Train, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and The Big Lebowski, among others. Throughout our conversation, Buscemi returns again and again to awkwardness. Strangers making unwanted conversation, interviews that feel invasive, and the strange intimacy created when two people stop pretending to be polite. 

TRANSCRIPT:

Tania Ketenjian:
Steve Buscemi has been a fixture in the independent film circuit for nearly 20 years and has been acting for most of his life. He has over 100 acting credits to his name. He's written, produced, been part of soundtracks, and directed. His most recent film, Interview, which he both directed and stars in, marks the first in yet another foray of Buscemi's, bringing the films of assassinated filmmaker Theo van Gogh to the screen. You may remember the violent death of Theo van Gogh at the hands of an Islamist fundamentalist in the streets of Amsterdam. He was shot and then nearly decapitated. A 5-page note was attached to his body with a knife. Van Gogh was quite vocal about his anti-Islamic sentiments. He was both a reporter and a filmmaker, yet the backlash that he received seemed to shock the world. Now, in his memory, Steve Buscemi has created the film company Triple Theo and will recreate three of Theo van Gogh's films. Interview is the first. Steve Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, New York. His father was a sanitation worker, his mother a hostess at the local Howard Johnson Hotel. Before he began his acting career, Buscemi was a New York City firefighter in Little Italy for 4 years. He joined the experimental theater company the Wooster Group, and his acting career grew. He often plays neurotic characters full of angst and frustration. He's a permanent fixture in the films by the Coen Brothers, but the role that really put him in the spotlight was that of Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs. Buscemi's character in Interview is not neurotic, but quite persistent.

The story is this: Pierre Peters, a war reporter for the Washington newspaper, is asked to do a fluff piece on a well-known B-actress, the reason being that his, quote, facts in his political pieces have not been very reliable. Uninterested and frustrated with this assignment, he does nothing to learn about the actress, who gets extraordinarily frustrated herself. What ensues is a seeming cat-and-mouse chase in the actress's loft. Where each party reveals more or maybe less than they would have liked to. The film is disquieting and uncomfortable and memorable.I spoke with Steve Buscemi while he was in San Francisco promoting his film, "Interview."


Tania Ketenjian:
So when I, uh, when I went to the screening, there were a lot of moments where I really wanted to leave, and I thought to myself, "God, I don't even know if I really like this movie," but I was really excited about interviewing you, and of course I didn't leave, and on the way walking home, I was still really frustrated, and I found myself just constantly thinking about it. And over the last week and a half, I've just been kind of reliving scenes from it to the extent that I even think that I sometimes am seeing someone from the movie on the street, and I want to talk to them. So I'm just curious about that contradiction of really feeling— resistant to it and also very attracted to it at the same time, and why you think that might be.


Steve Buscemi:
You've just explained the relationship between Pierre and Katya in the film. They, you know, are seemingly from different worlds, and initially the interview does not go well, but there is a connection that has been established and something that keeps them there. And also takes them to new levels. And they're both complicated people. They're both in some ways damaged people, and they have that in common. So I think that's what really keeps them together in the room. Something must have kept you in the screening. Hopefully it was more just because you had to interview me.


Tania Ketenjian:
And yeah, it was more than just— I mean, it is intriguing, and I know that attraction of a, um, kind of dysfunctionality to a certain extent. There's an attraction in dysfunctionality. And it just is essentially about communication, the way people communicate with each other. And I had read somewhere that you had said that, uh, the real foundation for a strong director is an ability to truly communicate, and for many of the people on the set to be able to communicate with each other. And I wanted to explore what what the strongest tenets of communication are for you? What do you think is most important in the way in which two people communicate with each other?


Steve Buscemi:
Wow. I don't know how to answer that.


Tania Ketenjian:
I mean, when you are in a relationship with someone as a friend or whatever it might be, what are the things that you value in the way that you communicate with them?


Steve Buscemi:
Well, having fun is important, and I do think these characters have fun with each other. I think that's another reason that they, you know, stay together, because they do sort of make each other laugh, even if they're not physically laughing. I think there is, you know, they are amused by one another. I think humor is is a really good way to communicate.


Tania Ketenjian:
That just the whole notion of interview is an interesting one because you reveal so much about yourself in an interview, or you have this opportunity to really look at yourself in an interview if it's a good— if it works out well. So what are some— I know I'm using the film as a springboard for personal questions, but what are some moments in which an interview has made sense to you and allowed you to discover something about yourself in the same way that happens in this film?


Steve Buscemi:
Well, right now I'm sitting here with two microphones in my face, and it's not the most comfortable feeling in the world. And I'm talking to a complete stranger who wants to know something personal about me. So, um, I think just given those circumstances, I'm going to be somewhat guarded. And I'm probably not going to be as revealing as the interviewer would like me to be.


Tania Ketenjian:
But the characters in the film weren't guarded at all.


Steve Buscemi:
Well, I think they were. I think in the— definitely in the beginning. And actually, how much did we really learn about Katya? You know, I think she learned more about Pierre— I think she learned more about him than he did about her. So I think she was successful at being guarded throughout that whole evening.


Tania Ketenjian:
This is a question I'm sure everyone has asked, which is just about Theo van Gogh and why do you feel like it's so important to bring his films to fruition?


Steve Buscemi:
Because I was interested in them. I didn't know his work, and when I was presented with the idea of remaking one of his films, he had 3 films of his own that he wanted to remake as English-language speaking films. And I could not have done, you know, my part if I wasn't truly interested myself. So, it was less a case of, "Wow, the world should know about this," It was more of, "I'm really interested in this. I want to be a part of this."


Tania Ketenjian:
But there's, I mean, I can totally see that to be true, of course, and you're saying that, so it is true. But there's— I must believe what you say. But no one can ignore the political implications of his name and all the things that it stimulates inside of someone when they hear his name, just because of the way he died. So it's, are you saying that you're totally distanced from that? It has nothing to do with that?


Steve Buscemi:
No, but there'll be a lot of people— hopefully there'll be a lot of people who see this film who maybe won't know any of the background. I talked to a woman last night. She was going on about this film "Waitress," and I said, "Isn't it sad that Adrienne Shelley, the director, had been murdered?" And that was a surprise to her. So, in one way, I find that interesting that, you know, she went to see the film, this film, on its own merits. And so our film has to stand on its own merits. And somebody shouldn't, you know, people shouldn't check out the film because it's a remake of a film that, you know, of a guy who was murdered. Hopefully they'll want to see it because they think it's you know, just the subject matter is interesting.


Tania Ketenjian:
What are some of the things that you love about this film, about your film? What are some of the things that you are really proud of about it?


Steve Buscemi:
That we made it. That, you know, we initially lost the financing for it, and so I'm glad that, you know, that we all stuck with it and saw it through, because it got discouraging along the way. And I do think that it stands on its own, and yet I think it's, it's very true in spirit to the original film, which is why I wanted to do it in the first place. And that it is about this relationship between two people who are just meeting for the first time, and it feels like it's a— when I watched the original, it felt like I was watching a couple that were going through this terrible breakup. And yet they were only spending a few hours together. And so although we changed, you know, some of the plot points and details and sort of Americanized it, I still feel like we stayed true to the original idea.

I think I'm better at writing dialogue than I am coming up with story, so that's why, you know, Animal Factory was from a book by Eddie Bunker, which I also had a hand in the shaping of the writing. And so I get very involved that way. Same with Lonesome Jim. It was a wonderful script by James Strauss, but I really, you know, worked with him on it, and he was very interested to work with me on it. And then on this one, on Interview, I felt that because I was going to be playing this part, that it was important for me then to have a real hand in the actual writing of some of the dialogue. But I still needed David to adapt it because I felt like it would have taken me 3 times as longer to just get that first draft out. I mean, I have used improvisation in the past, and that's really how I learned how to write to begin with when I was doing work with Mark Boone Jr. In theater, that's how we used to come up with our plays, was think of characters in a situation and then just improvise for hours and then transcribe those tapes and then edit them. And so that's really how I learned how to write to begin with. And certainly in Interview, we of course stayed close to the script, but it was just part of the whole structure of the whole piece that lent itself to improvisation, you know, because we did really long takes. We shot it with 3 cameras so that we were always both on camera, so that if somebody did improvise, you were getting the other person's reaction. And, and, you know, just doing 10-minute takes, sometimes, you know, you're not going to remember your line exactly how it is, so it's important to know how to, you know, find your way out of that.


Tania Ketenjian:
And it's interesting how this, the place, and you know, because you said Americanized it, which it's very New York-ized, you know, that space very much is a character in and of itself.


Steve Buscemi:
You're right, and New York is not America, so it really is more New York-ized. And that was something that we actually were conscious of, and we opened it up a little bit. In the original, there was not a scene in a restaurant. But we felt like, yeah, one, we wanted to open it up to show more of New York, and two, here in the States, a journalist would probably not be allowed to go over to the person's— to the star's house on the first interview. So we felt it was, you know, truer to how it's done here to meet in a neutral place first. And then we had to make this we had to think of a way that they go back to her loft.

We looked for a loft that was huge, for one, but then also we created many different worlds within that one location. So that, you know, we were only in her bedroom once, but that was a more intimate feeling and much more personal to who she was. And then, you know, there was the whole kitchen area, then the table, her hammock place that we only go to once, and then the dance that happens around that. So knowing that I only had one location, it was important to find a place that had many different worlds inside of it. And because her loft really becomes another character in the film.


Tania Ketenjian:
That first meeting— have you had that experience in your life where you first meet someone, you know, without— not necessarily sexually, it could be another man, but you first meet someone and you have that same sort of connection with them?


Steve Buscemi:
I mean, I've had experiences where I meet somebody and am sort of suspicious, or I don't want to be involved. I mean, and it happens in little ways too. I was just on a flight, and this young guy who was sitting next to me was trying to chat me up, and I was sort of tired and not wanting to talk, and for about half the flight was successful in sort of ignoring him. And then finally I asked him, you know, "Okay, well, what do you do?" And it turns out he's in the Army. He's been in the Army for 3 years. He's got another 3 years. And it was somebody that I did have a connection with, and I was very interested in what he had to say. And we ended up having a really great conversation. This is on the flight to Seattle, and so I invited him to the screening, and he came the next day with his friend. And there was a connection that I made that it was only because of his persistence, you know, I would not have asked— I would not have been asking him questions about what he did and who he was. So I'm grateful to him, you know, that he was persistent And he wasn't being annoying at all, you know. He just seemed like he was a little bit lonely and he just wanted to talk.


Tania Ketenjian:
He knew who you were, right? He had seen you.


Steve Buscemi:
Yeah, but he wasn't being like an annoying fan. He really wasn't. He just was really just trying to make small talk. But he himself was a really interesting guy.


Tania Ketenjian:
It's those chance encounters that justify why living is so special. But that's like a— that's a positive kind of encounter. This one was a really difficult, challenging one. This one was one where, you know, some people got cheated. There were lies.


Steve Buscemi:
I still see it as a positive encounter between them, between Pierre and Katya. I think she, on some level, was grateful to meet a guy like this who was interested in challenging her. And I think he did. And I think for him, you know, hopefully at the end of the night, even though he's come away with less than he had hoped to get out of the evening, hopefully he went through a real experience that he can take with him. And I think that's always a positive.


Tania Ketenjian:
The element of, uh, of just the intimacy and the kind of sexual charge. Was that something that was inevitable? Was it something that you really wanted to have in there? I mean, obviously you did, but why?


Steve Buscemi:
Well, it was part of the original. So again, I saw how important that was to the original story, so it was— yeah, it was an important part, not an important part, but it was just part of who they were, you know. There's definite sexual tension, and then there's also, you know, this sort of surrogate father-daughter thing that's very strong, that was strong in the original too, and I was interested in preserving that as well. You know, I mean, there's an age difference between them, And yet they find a way to transcend that and at the same time sort of, you know, reenact these father and daughter roles.

I mean, it's always fun to work and to work on things that you really believe in and enjoy. I would say the lows are having to talk about it. I mean, especially with an independent film where there's not going to be a huge marketing machine behind this. It's important to the company that distributes the film that, you know, the actors and directors get out there and support it, which I'm happy to do, but that doesn't make it any easier to, you know, it's not easy doing, you know, interview after interview after interview. And, and so if I had my, my preference is that I would not be talking about the film. I just let the film stand, you know, just let the film speak for itself. That's something I'm still working on. Okay.


Unknown Speaker:
I mean, you're even working on it at the moment.


Steve Buscemi:
I am, yes. You know, I don't know, you just try and stay engaged and find other things to do, and, but it's hard, you know. There's, for me, there's just no way getting around it. It often feels like something that I have to endure rather than enjoy, although I am enjoying myself now.


Tania Ketenjian:
Those were the words of Steve Buscemi, actor, writer, and most recently director of the film Interview. To learn more about the film and where it's playing, visit interviewthefilm.com. My name is Tania Ketenjian. This is Sight Unseen. You're listening to Resonance 104.4 FM. FM, the UK's first radio art station.