Steve Buscemi

“I'm always looking for other interesting films to either act in or direct.”

“I was really young, just playing with puppets a lot and doing all the voices and acting it out - normal kid stuff. But then I'd hear my mother talking about it to her relatives, marveling at it as if it was something unique. And it made me realize, 'Oh, maybe I do have a talent for something.'”

“I had a magic kit. I never really followed through on it, but I had my phase of wanting to do it, sure.”

“They're not supposed to show prison films in prison. Especially ones that are about escaping.”

“I've never had a grand plan. I've only just tried to keep open to many different possibilities, have fun and work with people who are passionate about what they do.”

“Anything you write, even if you have to start over, is valuable. I let the story write itself through the characters.”

“I did stand-up. I loved George Carlin and Steve Martin.”

“Relationships are interesting to me. Not just between men and women, but fathers and sons, brothers and sisters and friends.”

“I like character-driven stuff. It doesn't matter, the size of the part.”

“I like the struggles that people have, people who are feeling like they don't fit into society, because I still sort of feel that way.”

“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.”

“I've always tried to have a healthy take on the characters I play; they are only characters I play.”

“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.”

“My greatest hope was to get discovered as a comedian and get on a sitcom.”

“I'd say that the director I had most involvement with was Alex Rockwell in 'In the Soup'. It was one of my earliest leading roles, and he gave me a lot of responsibility as an actor.”

“With Animal Factory you'd think that because it's mostly interiors, you could shoot it anywhere. So we shot this in Philadelphia, and we had the cooperation of the prison system.”

“I usually get freaked out if I'm in a situation where a lot of people recognise me at once.”

“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.”

“It doesn't matter so much where the material comes from, as long as it's good.”

“My favorite review described me as the cinematic equivalent of junk mail. I don't know what that means, but it sounds like a dig.”