STEVE
BUSCEMI

Steve Buscemi has built a career around characters who can be funny, anxious, dangerous or unexpectedly vulnerable. The American actor and director moves between independent cinema, studio films and television. His performances often give an ensemble a person whose next reaction is difficult to predict.

In Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992), Buscemi plays Mr. Pink, one of the criminals dealing with the aftermath of a failed robbery. His alert, argumentative presence becomes part of the film’s tension as the group tries to understand what went wrong and whom they can trust.

Buscemi has worked repeatedly with the Coen brothers, including in Fargo (1996) and The Big Lebowski (1998). In Fargo he plays Carl Showalter, a kidnapper caught in a plan that spirals out of control. The role fits the film’s uneasy mixture of crime and dark comedy, where a character’s flaws can be both absurd and consequential.

He also writes and directs. Trees Lounge (1996), his feature directorial debut, gives him another way to observe a community and the habits of the people within it. His work behind the camera extends to television, including directing episodes of The Sopranos.

In HBO’s Boardwalk Empire, Buscemi plays Enoch ‘Nucky’ Thompson, a powerful figure in Prohibition-era Atlantic City. The longer television format gives the character’s alliances and contradictions room to develop. His performance earned a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards, as well as Emmy nominations.