Seven years after he helped protect humanity
from a killer asteroid in "Armageddon," actor Steve
Buscemi has reunited with director Michael Bay and co-star Michael
Clarke Duncan for another high-octane action flick, "The
Island."
This time out, the celebrated character actor – a Park Slope
resident – portrays McCord, a sympathetic worker in a futuristic
institute that controls every aspect of people’s lives in the
name of science.
Buscemi’s "Big Fish" co-star Ewan McGregor and his
"Ghost World" cast-mate Scarlett Johansson play Lincoln
Six-Echo and Jordan Two-Delta, residents who question their reality
and plan a daring escape into an outside world they have never
known. Duncan plays Starkweather, a former inhabitant whose fate
reveals the sinister machinations of those controlling the facility:
residents are actually clones created and kept alive solely to
provide healthy replacement body parts for their original "sponsors."
"Steve is the man," Bay has said of Buscemi. "He
literally was the part; it was totally geared for him. He brought
humor to the role, which was great because he had a lot of exposition
to get out, but Steve is the type of guy who can humanize anything.
He is just one of the finest actors out there."
Well-known for his quirky, sometimes menacing turns in acclaimed
independent films like "Fargo," "Reservoir Dogs"
and "Living in Oblivion," Buscemi often lends credibility
to big-budget blockbusters like "Con Air," "Armageddon"
and, yes, "The Island," by his mere presence.
"I thought the script was good," said the 47-year-old,
married father of a teenage boy. "I think there are going
to be holes in any big, action-adventure story. It’s a fantasy,
but what was interesting to me was that it could be within the
realm of possibility, which is frightening."
Although a well-regarded writer and director, as well as a beloved
actor, the "Trees Lounge" and "Lonesome Jim"
filmmaker said he has no problem working as an actor-for-hire
and shutting off the part of his brain that tells him how he
would shoot a scene.
"Certainly not on a film like ’The Island,’ because I would
feel like I’d be way in over my head as a director," he
confided. "So, I’m really just absorbing what’s going on,
and as an actor who has directed, I think, I just become more
accommodating to the director, knowing that directors don’t want
a lot of people coming up to them and saying, ’Did you ever think
of doing it this way?’"
Buscemi fans know that while the actor likes to mix things up
a bit by working in small independent films and larger Hollywood
fare – both in front of and behind the camera, he also likes
to collaborate with the same actors and directors more than once.
"The script is important and the dialogue, but also who’s
involved," he explained. "I like working with strong
directors and the best cast you can get. In this case, it was
a pretty easy decision."
It was also easy for Buscemi to decide to work with the Coen
Brothers again after acting in their cult classics, "Fargo"
and "The Big Lebowski."
"I just did a live radio play [’Sawbones’] that they wrote,"
said Buscemi. "We performed it at St. Ann’s Warehouse in
[DUMBO] and one night in London, and I also did a five-minute
short film for them that we shot in Paris, which will be combined
with a whole series of short films that these French financiers
have asked – I don’t know how many – directors to do. I think
they’re going to get that ready for Cannes."
Buscemi said all the films had the theme of romance in Paris.
The one he worked on with the Coens was a three-character piece
set in the Metro, and no, he sighed, he doesn’t get to fall in
love in this one either.
Next up for Buscemi is directing another episode of "The
Sopranos," the hit HBO drama he also acted in for a season
before being unceremoniously whacked by his own cousin, mob boss
Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini). He refused to turn rat, however,
despite all pleas from GO Brooklyn to divulge something – ANYTHING
– about the upcoming season.
"No, I can’t," he insisted. "I’m not allowed."
So, given all of the characters he has played on-screen during
the past 20 years, does Buscemi feel there is any one
great role that has slipped through his grasp?
"I don’t really think that way. I like to be surprised,"
he confided. "I feel like I have played a number of different
parts, and I think that’s probably why I want to direct more,
because I feel like directing is more of a challenge and something
new."
Born in Brooklyn, Buscemi attended high school and college on
Long Island. Though Hollywood has courted him for more than a
decade, the down-to-earth actor-filmmaker said he prefers to
live on the East Coast where it is easier to avoid the trappings
of celebrity and live a normal life.
"For me, it helps not having the industry in my face all
the time and that’s why I do prefer living in New York, in Brooklyn,
where it’s even less. I don’t know if it gives me an edge, but
it gives me my sanity," laughed the former New York City
firefighter who was arrested two years ago for protesting the
closing of a Cobble Hill firehouse.
So, do fans bother him all the time?
"Not to the degree where it’s out of hand," said Buscemi.
"I’ve lived in the same neighborhood now for over 10 years.
People know me, and they are used to me. I’m just the guy next
door."
"The Island" opens in theaters July 22.
