Actor Steve Buscemi is a lifelong New Yorker, but when he first read the script for The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, he found himself in an unfamiliar world.
"I was never much for going into pawn shops," he says. "When I read the script, I was a little, like, I don't know what this stuff means."
In the film, Buscemi plays a pawn shop owner in the Bronx who helps John Turturro's character unload jewelry and electronics he's stolen on the subway. It's not the first time the two actors have worked together — they first met while shooting the Coen brothers' 1990 crime film Miller's Crossing, then wound up living near each other in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in the 1990s.
"It just felt good that I was in the same neighborhood as John," Buscemi says. "I always looked up to him. We're the same age, but he seemed to have gotten his start in film and theater before me and was already doing great work."
Over the course of his career, Buscemi's acted in more than 100 films and TV shows. In addition to The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, he also currently appears in Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh's film about rogue CIA agents stationed in Chile in the 1970s. Much of the movie was filmed on Easter Island, which Buscemi says was among his favorite locations to shoot.
"On our days off, my wife and I would go at sunrise, just to see the sun rise behind these beautiful majestic heads," he says of the island's Moai statues. "And then at sunset, we'd go to the other side of the island and see another set of heads as the sun was setting. And the horses really do run wild there. I've never been in a place where horses are free. It was just incredible."
Interview highlights
On working with the Coen brothers in films like Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, Fargo and The Big Lebowski
They just took a liking to me. When I auditioned for Miller's Crossing, they were just laughing a lot, especially Ethan. And that's a great feeling, when you can make those guys laugh. They're pretty laid back. They're not like their characters at all. And then when you'd hear them laughing off camera, that was always a good sign that they liked what you were doing.
On his character in Fargo being described as a "funny lookin'" guy
I thought, I need to do something to make myself funny-looking. And when I presented that to Joel and Ethan on the phone, I was like, "Are we going to do something makeup-wise with my nose?" Or, "What should we do to, sort of, enhance that?" And there was silence at the other end. ... I just went, "Or we could do nothing," and I just moved on.
On working as a New York City firefighter for four years before breaking into acting
My dad was a sanitation worker, and he knew about civil service jobs. ... And so when I was 18, the test for the fire department was available. And so I took it, and I trained for it, because the physical was quite demanding. And I read up on past tests for the written test.
But what's interesting, you know, my dad, he grew up in East New York, Brooklyn, and he had two best friends growing up. One ... became a firefighter, and the other was Peter Miller, who became an actor. ... So [my dad] suggested, he says, "Look, if you want to be an actor, Uncle Pete, he took acting classes. That's what you have to do." And he took me into the city and we actually stopped by the Neighborhood Playhouse and then, I don't know how he knew of the Lee Strasberg Institute, but he did. And I ended up going to the Lee Strasberg school on, like, a six-month, full-time course of four acting classes, a voice class, a movement class. And that's what kept me in New York.
On how being hit by a bus as a child enabled his acting career later
I was hit by a New York City bus when I was 4. I had a fractured skull, was in the hospital for a little bit. And yeah, I got a settlement. It was something like $6,000. And I got it when I was 18, it was released to me. And I bought my first car with that, a used Pinto. And then I also used that money to ... pay for the [acting] classes. I think it was, like, $1,500, which I would not have had otherwise.
On initially keeping his acting aspirations a secret in the firehouse
They found out one day, because there was another actor-firefighter, his name was Dean Tulipane. And he worked at Engine 24 in the Village, and he was very open about what he did. So he sort of outed me, and my fellow firefighters in Engine 55 were just shocked because I was probably one of the quietest guys in the house. But that helped me come out of my shell. And sometimes, at firefighter parties, I would have a few drinks and get up and sort of do a stand-up routine, kind of like a Don Rickles, where I would just go down the line and just insult each one. And they loved it. And when I started doing plays, then they were interested and they would come and see me and enjoy it. But there was also that feeling of, you know, "You're funny Stevie, but don't quit your day job."
On reconnecting with his old firehouse after Sept. 11, and volunteering at Ground Zero
There were five members of Engine 55 that were killed, and one of them I worked with, Faust Apostol. And before that, I had sort of lost my connection with the company. By that time, I moved to Brooklyn. A lot of the guys that I worked with were either retired or were transferring to other houses. And so when I would visit, I always felt a little awkward because I didn't know the new guys that were there. But, when 9/11 happened, I just knew that I was going to know guys and I couldn't get in touch with the firehouse. So I went down there the next day with my turnout coat and helmet and I was brought into the site and learned about the guys that were missing. ... I always say this, I hate the reason, but I love that I got reconnected with my old company and with the FDNY.
Lauren Krenzel and Susan Nyakundi produced and edited this interview for broadcast. Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Beth Novey adapted it for the web.
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