Steve Buscemi is putting the spotlight on one of acting’s central paradoxes: the job often requires letting go.
In an interview with The Talks, Buscemi reflected on whether true control is possible on a film set, explaining that he does not approach acting as a process built around command. Instead, he described performance as an act of surrender — particularly when an actor is not also directing the project.
“I don’t worry about having control so much,” Buscemi said. “I think as an actor when you go in, you are sort of giving up that control unless you’re directing the film yourself. And I guess I don’t have that much concern about it when I’m working with really good directors. Film is collaboration, and I think all of the really good directors surround themselves with the best people.”
The comment lands with added weight coming from Buscemi, whose work has moved across both mainstream and independent projects over a screen career spanning decades. His breakthrough came in Quentin Tarantino’s “Reservoir Dogs,” and his film credits include “Fargo,” “Con Air,” “The Big Lebowski” and “Ghost World.” He has also directed films including “Trees Lounge,” “Animal Factory” and “Interview.”
Buscemi on trust, risk and collaboration
Buscemi’s broader point in the interview was not simply that actors have less control than directors. He framed that lack of control as something that can become productive when trust is present.
“I think the more you trust your director, the more you’re willing to put yourself out there and take more risks and not be afraid,” Buscemi said in the same interview with The Talks.
He connected that idea to his role in Armando Iannucci’s “The Death of Stalin.” Buscemi said playing a real-life historical figure was “intimidating,” but explained that he ultimately relied on the script’s interpretation of the character.
For Buscemi, the work of performance is also less about trying to manufacture emotion than responding within the structure built by the creative team around him. “I don’t really think about emotions, it’s more about behavior and reactions and that really depends on the director and the writers and the other actors,” he said.
Asked whether that trust applies only during production, Buscemi extended the idea beyond the set and into the editing room, saying it matters that “all of the good things that you think that you’re bringing to the film will actually be in the film.”
A career built across film and television
Buscemi’s perspective comes from a body of work that includes major film roles, television performances and directing assignments. On television, his major acting debut was in the 1989 miniseries “Lonesome Dove.” His TV credits include “The Sopranos,” “Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Poker Face” and “Big Mouth,” among others.
He has been nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards and won once, for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series for “Park Bench With Steve Buscemi.” He also earned a Golden Globe for playing Nucky Thompson in “Boardwalk Empire.”
Additional television appearances listed among his credits include “Miami Vice,” “Tales from the Crypt,” “L.A. Law” and “The Sopranos.” Buscemi is also set to co-star with Rob Mac and Lizzy Caplan in FX’s video game adaptation “Far Cry.”
How his earlier comments echo the same idea
Buscemi has returned to similar themes in past interviews, particularly when discussing directing, acting and the demands of production. In a 2000 interview with Salon, he described television directing as a demanding pace.
“TV is tough. It’s a tough pace,” Buscemi said. “You might think directing TV would prepare you for directing a film. In my case, it’s the other way around. I never would have attempted it had I not directed a film. I mean, you’re shooting an hour’s show in seven days. That’s a lot of material. So you have to be incredibly focused, especially in an ensemble show like that where you’re dealing with a lot of actors.”
In a 2001 interview with The Guardian, Buscemi praised directors who make actors and crew feel included in the process. He cited Jim Jarmusch, Tom DiCillo, Alex Rockwell, the Coen brothers and Quentin Tarantino while discussing filmmakers with a strong vision who still listen to ideas.
“I think that most of the directors that I’ve really enjoyed working with, like [Jim] Jarmusch and Tom DiCillo and Alex Rockwell, they all have a love for actors,” Buscemi said. “So I like that in a director, and not only a love for working with actors but a love for working with the whole crew and making everybody feel like they’re collaborating, and not just being told what to do.”
He added in that same quote that those directors have “a very unique vision of what they want,” while still making people feel “like everyone is making the film,” something he said he tried to do himself.
Buscemi also described the kind of storytelling that continues to interest him in a 2007 interview with Mother Jones. “Nothing’s really changed for me over the years,” he said. “I like telling stories about people with problems. I can’t really put it much simpler than that. Relationships are interesting to me. Not just between men and women but fathers and sons, brothers and sisters and friends.”
Taken together, Buscemi’s remarks present a consistent view of screen work: actors may give up control, but the best filmmaking environments replace that control with trust, collaboration and a shared commitment to the story.