What the Hell Happened to Steven Seagal?

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.  Case in point: Steven Seagal.  If I told you that a martial artist could become a movie star by training a Hollywood executive, you might find that hard to believe.  But Seagal’s story gets stranger from there.  Seagal’s fame didn’t just fade.  It was utterly extinguished.  In a relatively short time, the actor went from an aspiring A-list action hero to a living, breathing fat joke.  After a string of hits, Segal ended up sleep-walking through a series of direct-to-video movies in which he was draped in a mumu.  Mocked even by his fans, Seagal was a has-been.  Rather than accept his own irrelevance, the actor did the unthinkable.  He cozied up to a foreign dictator and was recently appointed a Russian diplomat by Vladimir Putin.  Don’t tell me you saw that coming!

What the hell happened?

Steven Seagal

The Origin Story

Seagal is a big man who likes to tell big stories.  From the moment he became a public figure, Seagal cultivated his own mythology.  At various times, he has made several ridiculous and often contradictory claims about his life story.  His stories are designed to shroud the actor in mystique and they are often difficult to disprove by design.  But many of his claims have been refuted if not outright disproven.  For example, Seagal claimed to be of Italian descent, but that is not true.  Seagal’s father was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants.  His mother’s family came from Europe, but not from Italy.  She was a mix of English and German with a splash of Dutch.

The actor also claimed to have grown up in Brooklyn, but he actually moved from Michigan to California at a young age.  Seagal’s own non-Italian mother discredited her son’s tales of his upbringing.

According to Seagal, he was a student of the founder of aikido, Morihei Ueshiba.  Ueshiba died in 1968 when Seagal was a teenager.  While Seagal’s claim has not been disproven, it seems to have been over-stated.  To date, only one of Ueshiba’s students has any recollection of Seagal’s presence during this time.  And according to that source, Seagal was “the kid who was always playing guitar.”

Speaking of the guitar, Seagal fancies himself a blues musician.  He has released two albums with his band, Thunderbox.  According to Seagal:

“I came up in Detroit and there was a lot of blues. I didn’t learn blues from a fucking record; I learned it from the front porch. There were all these people from Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas and I learned from them.”

Seagal was five-years-old when his family moved from Lansing, Michigan to Fullerton, California.  But that doesn’t stop him from telling stories about impressing the local blues artists who travelled from all over the country to Detroit.

“Little Milton hadn’t heard me play before. I was doing this Lightnin’ Hopkins thing. Milton looked at me and nodded, like he was trying to say, “This mutha ain’t white.”

In his twenties, Seagal married his first wife, Miyako Fujitani.  Her father owned an aikido dojo in Osaka.  Eventually, Seagal ran the dojo for his father-in-law.  This substantiates Seagal’s claim that he was the  first Westerner to operate an aikido dojo in Japan.  Take note of that.  It is one of the few stories Seagal has told about himself which is actually true.  Of course Seagal being Seagal, he had to turn this chapter of his life into a martial arts movie.  He has frequently told stories of fighting off the feared Japanese mafia, the Yakuza.  He told Movieline, “I jumped right in their faces. I was a tenacious motherfucker, man, and I was fearless.”

Seagal’s first wife refutes his claims,“It is a lie. He once chased a few drunks away from the dojo but never was involved with Yakuza.”

Fujitani also cast suspicion on Seagal’s Aikido black belt. “The only reason Steven was awarded the black belt was because the judge, who was famous for his laziness, fell asleep during Steven’s presentation. The judge just gave him the black belt.”

In the eighties, Seagal returned to the United States and married Days of Our Lives actress, Adrienne La Russa.  He didn’t let the fact that he was still legally married to Fujitani stand in his way.  When Fujitani learned of her husband’s second marriage, she filed for an annulment.  Many believe Seagal only married her so he could stay in Japan and run a dojo.

Gone Hollywood

Seagal came to Hollywood as an aikido instructor.  In 1982, he worked as a stunt coordinator on the Scott Glenn action movie, The Challenge which was directed by John Frankenheimer.

The following year, Seagal was hired as a martial arts instructor on the James Bond flick, Never Say Never Again.  During filming, Seagal broke Sean Connery’s wrist.  To hear Connery tell it, the injury wasn’t accidental.  He claims that during training, he got a little cocky and Seagal responded by breaking his wrist.

Steven Seagal and Kelly LeBrock
Steven Seagal and Kelly LeBrock

In 1986, Seagal met model and actress Kelly LeBrock whom he described as his “destiny”.  LeBrock was famous from the shampoo ads in which she pleaded, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.”  She had also starred opposite Gene Wilder in the 1984 comedy, The Woman in Red and played the perfect woman in John Hughes’ teen comedy, Weird Science.  Seagal was still an unknown martial arts instructor who had broken James Bonds’ wrist.

Although still legally married to Adrienne La Russa and Miyako Fujitani, Seagal followed LeBrock to Hong Kong to pursue a relationship.  One thing lead to another and LeBrock became pregnant with Seagal’s child.  When La Russa learned of the love child, she had her marriage to Seagal annulled.  Meanwhile, Seagal filed for a legal divorce from first wife his first wife.  Two divorces later, Seagal was free to marry LeBrock which he did in 1987.

Meanwhile, Seagal was working as an aikido instructor in LA.  Among his famous students was super-star talent agent, Michael Ovitz.  At the time, Ovitz was considered by many to be the most powerful man in Hollywood.  Ovitz decided to test this theory by using his clout to make Seagal into a movie star.  Towards that end, Ovitz set up a martial arts demonstration by Seagal on the Warner Bros lot.

Warner Bros was in the market for a low-budget action hero they could call their own.  Although Seagal had no acting experience whatsoever, Warner Bros decided to take a gamble on him as an action hero.  They offered the aikido instructor his choice of several action scripts.  Seagal turned them all down but offered to write his own action movie treatment.

A Rising Star

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Steven Seagal – Above the Law – 1988

Seagal’s film debut was in the 1988 cop movie, Above the Law. The movie was written and directed by Andrew Davis who would go on to success with The Fugitive.   Davis worked with the story which Seagal had written.  Above the Law co-starred  Pam Grier and a then-unkown Sharon Stone. Reviews were more positive than one would expect from a low-budget action film.  Above the Law grossed $19 million dollars at the box office which was impressive given its $7 million dollar budget. While promoting Above the Law, Seagal hinted to the LA Times that he had worked for the CIA in Japan:

“They saw my abilities, both with martial arts and with the language. You could say that I became an advisor to several CIA agents in the field and through my friends in the CIA, met many powerful people and did special works and special favors.”

Many have debunked Seagal’s claims to having worked with, for, or in proximity to the CIA.

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Steven Seagal and Kelly LeBrock- Hard to Kill – 1990

Two years later, Seagal starred in back-to-back action movies; Hard to Kill (which costarred his then-wife, Kelly LeBrock) and Marked for Death.  Both were relatively cheap and profitable features for Warner Brothers despite critical scorn.  Building on the success of Above the Law, both Hard to Kill and Marked for Death opened #1 at the box office!

Gene Lebell
Gene LeBell

Apparently, all of Seagal’s success was going to his head.  Seagal was always prone to bragging and making ridiculous claims.  Among other things, Seagal claimed to be a superb rider, a deadly marksmen, an authority on antique samurai swords, and fluent in four languages.

Seagal’s frequent boasting eventually caught up with him.  On the set of one of his movies, Seagal challenged stuntman Gene LeBell, a judo black belt, to try to choke him out.  Seagal insisted that he was immune to the technique.  The story goes that not only did Seagal pass out, he reportedly crapped his pants.

LeBell has alluded to the incident indirectly, but suggests that he is legally prohibited from discussing the details.

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Steven Seagal – Out for Justice – 1991

But Seagal’s personal embarrassment didn’t hamper his ascent as an action movie hero.  Out for Justice gave Seagal his third straight number-one opening at the box office.  It didn’t matter to Warner Brothers that their akido master had poopy pants when he could consistently deliver $40 million dollars at the box office.

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Steven Seagal – Saturday Night Live – 1991

As part of the promotion for Out for Justice, Seagal hosted Saturday Night Live.  To this day, he is considered by many to be the worst host the show has ever had.

Seagal hated the sketches that had been written for them.  Instead, he picthed a sketch where he would play a psychologist and cast member Victoria Jackson would portray his patient, a rape victim.  The joke in Seagal’s mind was that he would try to rape his patient.  When the  SNL staff tried to convince Seagal that it wasn’t funny and could never get past the censors, Seagal became belligerent.  Or more belligerent as the case may be.

Years later, when Nicolas Cage hosted the show, he joked that he was worried that the cast would think he was the biggest jerk ever to host the show.  Lorne Michaels deadpanned, “No, that was Steven Seagal.”

Castmember Julia Sweeney recounts Seagal locking himself in his dressing room because there was a Hans and Franz sketch he didn’t like.  According to Bob Odenkirk, Seagal insisted that he had to beat up the body builders.  “He kept saying ‘I have never seen this show. I don’t know what you do here, but if I do your sketch I have to beat them up.'”

Crossing Over

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Steven Seagal – Under Siege – 1992

Up to this point, Seagal was a niche actor.  He had made Warner Brothers a tidy profit with a series of inexpensive action movies.  He was a big deal by action movie standards.  By comparison, Chuck Norris was lucky to crack $10 million at the box office.  But Seagal’s movies hadn’t broken out to general audiences yet.  Until that happened, he could never compete with the A-list action heroes.  Seagal got his chance to cross over when he reuinted with his Above the Law director, Andrew Davis, for Under Siege.

Seagal played a former Navy Seal serving as a cook on board a battleship which is hi-jacked by terrorists.  The bad guys in this Die Hard knock-off were played by none other than Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey.  Former Playboy Playmate and future Baywatch Babe Erika Eleniak co-starred as a Playboy Playmate and I assume future Baywatch Babe.

Under Siege received mostly positive reviews and was a big hit at the box office.  Previously, Seagal’s movies had topped out around $50 million dollars.  But Under Siege grossed $86 million in the US and over $150 million world-wide.

Seagal wanted to use his newfound clout from the success of Under Siege to promote his environmental activism.  To that end, he directed and starred in the 1994 action movie, On Deadly Ground.  The action star’s directorial debut was also his first box office failure.  Despite topping the box office in its opening weekend, On Deadly Ground took in less than its $50 million dollar budget.  It was nominated for six Golden Raspberry awards with Seagal winning the Worst Director award.

seagal - under siege 2
Steven Seagal – Under Siege 2: Dark Territory – 1995

Seagal followed up On Deadly Ground with Under Siege 2: Dark Territory in 1995.  But the sequel couldn’t duplicate the success of the original.  It opened at #2 at the box office and grossed $50 million domestically.  Unfortunately, that total fell short of the film’s $60 million dollar price tag.  Under Siege 2 went on to gross over $100 million dollars worldwide, so it turned a profit.  But it was still a disappointment in relation to the first film.

A Touchy Subject

As Seagal’s popularity grew, his behavior worsened.  He alternately claimed to be ex-CIA and a Navy Seal.  At one point, he allegedly offered an ex-CIA operative named Robert Strickland $50,000 in cash to eliminate a former colleague.  Strickland later sued Seagal for stealing his stories and trying to pass them off as his own.

seagal - harassment
Steven Seagal

During this time, Seagal also faced several sexual harassment suits.  It was common practice for Seagal to ask women to take off their tops.  If they complied, he would grope their breasts in order to show them where their spiritual “meridian points” were located.

Strickland told a story about Raeanne Malone, one of four women hired by Warner Bros. to serve as Seagal’s personal assistants.  Malone was in the bathroom of Seagal’s trailer brushing her teeth.  Strickland watched as Seagal began loudly calling for Malone, saying he needed her immediately. She emerged still brushing her teeth. “Gee, Raeanne,” said the man of honor and protector of the weak, “You look like that when I come in your mouth.”

In May 1991 all four of the actor’s assistants quit over his inappropriate behavior. Three of them threatened to bring sexual-harassment charges against Seagal. Strickland claimed that two of the assistants signed non-disclosure agreements in exchange for payments in the vicinity of $50,000 each.

seagal - mccarthy
Steven Seagal and Jenny McCarthy

Actress Jenny McCarthy remembers a run-in with Seagal’s casting couch:

“They were casting Playmates for Under Siege 2.  I was the last audition, dressed frumpy and plain, the way I usually go, and I walk into his office and it’s only Steven. His office has a huge shag carpet – shag, I’ll repeat that, shag – and a huge screaming casting couch. Casting, casting, casting, casting couch. And he says, ‘Listen, I can’t tell what your body looks like with what you’re wearing, so why don’t you stand up and take off your dress?’ “I started crying, and I said, ‘My video’s for sale for $14.99, go buy it if you want to see.’ And I ran out to my car, and he grabbed my arm and followed me and said, ‘Don’t ever tell this to anybody.’ I was like, ‘Dude, you are gonna regret this one day.”

Meanwhile, Seagal’s marriage to actress Kelly LeBrock was unraveling.  On Halloween night, she served her husband with divorce papers.  You can hardly blame her.  In addition to feeling up women on the casting couch, Seagal was involved in an affair with his children’s nanny at the time.

seagal - van damme
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Sylvester Stallone and Steven Seagal

Seagal’s mouth was still getting him into all kinds of trouble.  He went around bragging that he would beat action rival Jean-Claude Van Damme in a fight.

Sylvester Stallone tells the story of the night Van Damme confronted Seagal:

“I remember once, at my home in Miami, I believe it was in 96 or 97, Van Damme was there with Seagal, Willis, Schwarzenegger, Shaquille O Neal, Don Johnson and Madonna, it was a heck of a party. Van Damme was tired of Seagal saying he could kick his ass and went right up to him and offered him the chance to step outside so he could wipe the floor with him, or should I say wipe the backyard with him. Seagal made some excuse and left. His destination was some Ocean Drive nightclub in Miami. Van Damme, who was completely berserk, tracked him down and again offered him a fight, and again Seagal pulled a Houdini. Who would win? I have to say I believe Van Damme was just too strong and Seagal wanted no part of it. That’s just my opinion.”

Cooling Off

seagal - executive decision
Steven Seagal – Executive Decision – 1996

Following the success of Under Siege film, Seagal tried to break into higher budget action movies.  In an effort to expand his audience, he took a supporting role in the 1996 action movie, Executive Decision which co-starred Kurt Russell and Halle Berry.

Seagal’s character died fairly early in the movie which did not sit well with the star’s ego.  According to co-star John Leguizamo, they started filming Seagal’s death scene at 6 in the morning but couldn’t actually get the actor to play along until 8 PM.

Leguizamo has spoken out frequently about an incident with Seagal on the set:

“We were in rehearsals for Executive Decision. I’m playing his Master Sargeant and we come in for rehearsals and he says, ‘I’m in command. Everything I say is law. Anybody doesn’t agree?’ I was like, ‘Bwahahaha.’ I started cracking up because he sounded like a retard and he came up and he Taekwondo’ed my ass against the brick and he hit me with his elbow.  He’s six-foot-five and he caught me off guard and knocked all of the air out of me and I was like, ‘Why?! Why?!’ I really wanted to say how big and fat he was and that he runs like a girl, but I didn’t because all I could say was, ‘Why?!’ Why’d he slam me against the wall? We were rehearsing. What’s the bid deal? Why can’t I call him names? If I can’t let it out it’s going to build like a cancer.”

Executive Decision received mostly good reviews and was a hit at the box office, but it didn’t do much for Seagal’s career.  He was nominated for a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actor which he lost to Marlon Brando who won for The Island of Dr. Moreau.

seagal - the glimmer man
Steven Seagal – The Glimmer Man – 1996

Later that year, Seagal starred opposite Keenan Ivory Wayans in The Glimmer Man.  The movie flopped.  With a domestic gross of around $20 million, The Glimmer Man barely out-earned Seagal’s movie debut, Above the Law.

The following year, Fire Down Below, another environmentally-conscious action movie, was an even bigger failure.  With ticket sales around $16 million dollars, this was the lowest-grossing movie of Seagal’s career to date.

Around this time, Seagal found religion in the form of Buddhism.  In 1997 Seagal’s teacher declared him a tulku.  As part of his new religion, Seagal decided he was no longer going to make violent action movies.  Apparently he thought audiences were paying to see his movies for his acting ability.

Segal’s business partner, Jules Nasso, put together a four-picture deal to keep Seagal in the action movie business.  Nasso was connected to the mob and his associates wanted the money they were promised.  They did not care that Seagal wanted to grow as an artist.  They were not satisfied with pacificst movies like 1998’s The Patriot.  They wanted the old action stat back.

Seagal repeatedly refused to make the action movies in Nasso’s four-picture contract and their partnership gradually collapsed.  In 2001, Nasso sued Seagal for 60-million dollars for breach of contract.  Three months after Nasso filed suit, he was arrested for extortion along with 16 other associates.

This will come into play later.

Don’t Call It a Comeback… Cause It’s Not

seagal - exit wounds
Steven Seagal – Exit Wounds – 2001

While the real life crime drama was unfolding, Seagal returned to action movies in Exit Wounds which co-starred DMX and Eva Mendes.  Exit Wounds succeeded in the sense that it wasn’t an abject failure.  Domestically, the movie was able to recoup its $50 million dollar budget but once you factor in marketing and other costs, Exit Wounds didn’t break even.  Still, it outperformed the combined grosses of The Glimmer Man and Fire Down Below.

seagal - half past dead
Steven Seagal – Half Past Dead – 2002

The following year, Seagal attempted to recapture that success by starring opposite another rapper (Ja Rule) in the action movie, Half Past Dead.  It didn’t work  Half Past Dead opened in fifth place at the box office and grossed an anemic $15 million dollars.  To put that in perspective, over a decade prior when Seagal was an unknown, Above the Law earned $18 million in 1988 dollars.

By 2003, Seagal was starring in direct-to-video movies like The Foreigner and Out for a Kill.  His big screen career was over.  But he was about to be cast in a new spotlight.

As Seagal’s film career was dying, he was subpoenaed to testify against his former business partner, Julius Nasso, and his mob associates in the Gambino crime family.

The defense attorneys sought to discredit Seagal as a “pathological liar” by asking him about his ridiculous stories under oath.  They also questioned the actor about an ex-con who was hired on Seagal’s behalf to intimidate a reporter who was covering Seagal’s alleged mob connections.

The reporter, Anita Busch, had found a dead fish with a rose in its mouth on her punctured windshield. A note found under the fish said, “STOP!”  Alexander Proctor, the ex-con, had told an informant that he’d been hired by a private investigator on behalf of Seagal. “They wanted to make it look like the Italians were putting the hit on her so it wouldn’t reflect on Seagal,” Proctor said.

Seagal was asked about several other embarrassing incidents.  He lost his temper repeatedly.  He was asked to testify about a meeting he had with his business partner and several mob bosses who tried to persuade Seagal to work with them.  Seagal had always portrayed the meeting like something out of his movies claiming he was armed and fearless.  Under oath, he admitted with gritted teeth that he was afraid for his life.

Direct-to-Video Wasteland and Reality TV

Starting with The Foreigner in 2003, Seagal released a staggering number of direct-to-video action movies.  As the star’s waistline continued to expand and his hairline continued to recede, Seagal did less and less action.  These days, he hides his girth behind enormous, loose-fitting costumes while stunt doubles do all the fighting.  Sometimes, his barely audible dialogue is actually voice dubbed by another actor so as to be comprehensible.  And yet, enough people watch these movies that Seagal steadily released two or more a year between 2003 and 2009.

seagal - lawman
Steven Seagal – Steven Seagal: Lawman – 2009

In 2009, Seagal had the unlikeliest of comebacks in the form of the A&E reality show, Steven Seagal: Lawman.  The show followed Seagal as he performed his duties as a reserve deputy sheriff in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana.  Seagal claimed to be a certified law enforcer, but no credentials have ever been provided.  In fairness it should be pointed out that Seagal would not necessarily need to be certified to act as a reserve deputy sheriff.

The show’s first season ran from 2009-2010.  The second season started in 2010 but was interrupted when a former personal assistant accused Seagal of numerous crimes including sexual harassment.  Kayden Nguyen claimed that among other things, Seagal maintained a personal harem and that he trafficked women for sex.  She accused Seagal of keeping two Russian women as prisoners to satisfy his sexual needs.  She claimed that Seagal intended her as a member of the harem.

Seagal’s attorney called Nguyen’s claims ridiculous.  She sued Seagal for one million dollars, but the lawsuit was later dropped.

Season three of Steven Seagal: Lawman was announced, but A&E pulled the episodes amid the scandalous accusations.  In 2014, the final episodes aired along with reruns on the ReelzChannel.

seagal - true justice
Steven Seagal – True Justice – 2011

Reelz was also the home of True Justice, a scripted cop show created by and starring Seagal.  The series originally aired on the Spanish channel, Nitro, but found an audience in the US on Reelz.

Seagal was the subject of another lawsuit related to Lawman.  A Phoenix resident sued Seagal and the show for manufacturing his arrest for TV.  The man was accused of breaking  probation for a misdemeanor violation of being present at a cock fight.  So the Sheriff’s office stormed his home with a tank, a bomb robot, and 40 deputies.  Several roosters and the family dog were killed in the raid.  The lawsuit was eventually dismissed when the plaintiff failed to file the required paperwork.

Machete
Steven Seagal – Machete – 2010

In 2010, Seagal returned briefly to the big screen as the bad guy in Robert Rodriguez’s grindhouse homage, Machete.

Since then, Seagal has starred in a steady stream of direct-to-video trash.  In 2016 alone, he appeared in a half-dozen of them.  He also got heavily involved in the mixed martial arts scene.  He is credited with helping to train the Brazilian fighter, Lyoto Machida.

In recent years, Seagal has become closely aligned with Russian president Vladimir Putin whom he called “one of the great living world leaders”.  Seagal even supported Putin’s annexation of Crimea In 2016, Seagal was granted Russian citizenship and two years later he was appointed as a “special representative” on US-Russian humanitarian ties by Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Seagal has vocally defended Putin against accusations of meddling in US elections.  “For anyone to think that Vladimir Putin had anything to do with fixing the elections, or even that the Russians have that kind of technology, is stupid.”

So, what the hell happened?

First of all, Seagal was never a talented actor to begin with.  He was a martial arts expert which is a good skill to have if you are an action hero.  But once Seagal stopped making action movies, he had no talent to fall back on.  Unfortunately, Seagal never seemed to realize the limits of his acting abilities.  Early in his career, he expressed frustration that Warner Brothers wouldn’t let him star in dramatic films.  Then after he converted to Buddhism, Seagal decided to eschew movie violence.

Second, Seagal got fat.

seagal - fat 2
Steven Seagal

No one stays young forever, but an action star can’t afford to let himself go like this if they want to keep making movies.

Probably the biggest issue with Seagal was that he was a grade-A asshole.  Seagal was known for bullying everyone around him.  He frequently injured stuntmen who worked on his movies.  Seagal was infamous for kicking stuntmen in the groin to see if they were wearing a cup.  I have heard of Seagal hospitalizing guys with stunts like this.  And then there were all the accusations of sexual harassment and worse.  Recently it was reported that the actor is under investigation for sexual assault and possibly rape.

Seagal was hand-picked for movie stardom because he happened to work for the most powerful talent agent in Hollywood.  He was lucky to have had a movie career at all.  When he inexplicably became a movie star, he quickly tanked his career by trying to stretch beyond his limited talents.  When that didn’t work, he stopped trying, got fat and coasted through direct-to-video releases that barely required him to move much less perform his own stunts.

To me, it’s not remotely surprising that Seagal’s movie career ended.  The real mystery is why he was ever a star to begin with.

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Jake
Jake
10 years ago

Seagal is basically the anti-Eastwood. He became famous for his on-screen action heroics, but, whereas Clint played his cards right and eventually became embraced as a great director, Seagal basically thought he could get away with anything. Hence, he’s now a joke!

Danielle Charney
Danielle Charney
10 years ago
Reply to  Jake

Think it’s called no talent – no cards to play – he was in the Lucky Hall of Fame- Eastwood is a smart, complex and talented man- like him or not -can’t deny his body of work- not even in the same breadth as SS

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Jake

Eastwood learned the craft of film-making. Seagal was a bully who let himself go to pot. I can imagine a lot of people cheering for Seagal’s career decline just as they cheer Eastwood’s triumphs.

moviefan
moviefan
7 years ago
Reply to  admin

Eastwood wasn’t a star until he was about 38. That automatically sets him apart from most actors you could compare him to. Only Bronson broke out as late. With that much time, one would have to be mentally challenged not to learn the craft of filmmaking.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  admin

Here’s your daily affirmation about Steven Seagal being a horrible excuse for a human being: https://www.quora.com/What-celebrity-do-you-despise-the-most/answer/Jean-Marie-Valheur Steven Seagal is by all accounts a nasty man. A bully, a rapist, frequent animal abuser and awfully close with dictators like Russia’s Vladimir Putin to whom he serves as some sort of unofficial bodyguard, I would say Seagal is about as close as one can get to a James Bond henchman in real life… all the while pretending to be some sort of enlightened spirit who’s friends with the Dalai Lama. There are numerous accounts of actresses who have fallen victim to his… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Jake

I have heard that Eastwood is a creep. I have no doubt we wouldn’t get along. But I can’t deny his filmography. And he is beloved in Hollywood.

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

I dunno about a creep- but its documented that he got Philip Kaufman fired from the Outlaw Josey Wales after Kaufman did all the prep. The Director’s Guild passed a rule that they would fine producers for doing that in the future.

He was also successfully sued by Sandra Locke for fraud for making business promises to her that he didn’t keep (even in Hollywood you have to be careful about that)

Hmm- yeah- so maybe creep isn’t far off.

moviefan
moviefan
7 years ago
Reply to  Mastro

That’s not even the 1/2 of it. She called him a monster & said her cancer was stress induced. They’re both unconventional people who defy easy categorization–I forget where I read that, but it’s an excellent description because their stories can’t really be given a rundown. The media didn’t get anything right and no retractions were issued when she came out with her revelations. There are a few theories why, all have to do with his incomparable superiority in the entertainment world just in general.

Bob Marshall
Bob Marshall
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

Well, he is an ultra conservative republican, so being a creep is just part of his whole package. 😉

Leslie
10 years ago
Reply to  Bob Marshall

Well, I am a Republican,I am not a creep.I don’t know what these Hollywood actors have done or not done to women or on their movie sets,etc., but I do know Clint had awesome movies,good work on them,and as for Seagal..well, I’m sorry but his movies were AWESOME, I loved watching him, I thought he did great w/his accent in “Out for Justice”,and I have seen him do a “demo” once, his hands moved so fast they ask him to slow down for the audience..so, maybe all the rumors are not true, I don’t know, but I do know I… Read more »

Ronnie Grooms
8 years ago
Reply to  Bob Marshall

Strangely he was one of the few that are Republicans in Hollywood…but I have to say that appearance on stage to benefit the Republican party was really strange. Always liked his movies but you don’t know how these people are in real life, we don’t know them.

moviefan
moviefan
7 years ago
Reply to  Bob Marshall

He identifies as conservative because the façade helps maintain his popularity. Someone who has fathered at least 8 children by at least 6 women while being married to someone else the whole time cannot be conservative. It defies logic. (The facts have been out there since the end of the 90s, American media just doesn’t publicize them.) He figured out a long time ago that the majority of his fanbase and the moviegoing public is conservative. Sondra Locke said he will do anything for money. To borrow another quote, Eastwood projects a false image to a worldwide audience.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  Jake
admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago

In college, some friends and I wrote, shot, and starred in a no budget video short called “Out For Pizza.” The whole idea of the short was that one of my friends looked like a rather rotund Steven Seagal. This friend did an intentionally half-assed impression of Seagal in which he was constantly half-looking at the camera and slowly nodding his head back and forth. The plot centered around a ‘gone to seed’ Seagal now being a pizza delivery man who was trying to track down an old nemesis who was getting his revenge by calling in fake pizza orders.… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

That sounds like fun. Today, it would probably be considered a flattering portrait of Seagal.

Danielle Charney
Danielle Charney
10 years ago

What a good post Lebeau- Kelly is about to release a book about her life and marriage to him – she is a really decent human- what she ever saw in him I will never know- if you can post this one of FB I can share- a FB friend knew him well and might have some tasties to add – and I do remember when A&E was not the home of Storage Wars and other great works of art- before Disney bought them I think – they are owned by Disney if I am remembering correctly- to me- although… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago

Glad you liked it. From what I have seen of LeBrock, she was a hot mess. But I give her credit for getting the hell out of there. As for A&E, it is apparently jointly owned by Hearst, Disney, and NBCUniversal. All I know is it used to be worth watching. Now it’s part of the vast wasteland of cable. Can’t wait for the day when I can pay for my channels ala carte. I am going to assume that Seagal’s refusal to take a paycheck to do an Expendables movie is related to pride. Stallone and Van Damme have… Read more »

Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

From what I understand, Seagal was offered a role in The Expendables movies, but I think it comes down to Steven Seagal and Avi Lerner, one of the producers of The Expendables, having had a falling out years ago when they worked together. It looks like it comes down to burned bridges, and apparently since they refuse to work together anymore Seagal burned that bridge with Lerner until it was well done. At one point I would’ve been cool with Seagal appearing in an Expendables movie, I mean if we’re talking 80’s and early 90’s action movie stars Seagal definately… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

Aren’t The Expendables movies kind of jokey? I think having Seagal in The Expendables would be like having him in Machete. Cheesy. Possibly in a good way. I saw a quote from Stallone claiming that Seagal and Van Damme turned down the first movie becuase they were expected to lose fights. He said they didn’t get it. After the success of the first film, Van Damme came around. Seagal has never been anything more than lukewarm on the idea. It is a bit of a mystery. I am kind of surprise that given the number of ex-wives and children he… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

Steven Seagal’s Ex Wife, Kelly LeBrock, Says She was Raped All Her Life! http://voices.yahoo.com/steven-seagals-ex-wife-kelly-lebrock-says-she-was-5915024.html?cat=38 Kelly LeBrock was a famous model before she ever married action star Steven Seagal. She began a career in modeling when she was only 16 years old, gracing hundreds of magazine covers and going on photo shoots for the esteemed Eileen Ford Agency in New York. But Kelly didn’t live a charmed life, according to RadarOnline. Kelly LeBrock: Model and Rape Victim Kelly LeBrock used to tell Americans, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful,” as she touted Pantene shampoo on television. But now she is telling… Read more »

Mona
Mona
10 years ago

Steven Seagal is a good actor for the reason that most of his early films all had a message or point to them not some way off reason to go kill someone with the bad guy killing off half the police force. As for Kelly come now no women is going to let that go on that long I sure didn’t and I’m not as tall as her you got speak out sometime !

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Mona

Mona, I’m going to have to take your word for Seagal’s early films. I usually watch a lot of movies as part of my research. But for Seagal, I decided to focus on embarassing stories about him crapping his pants instead.

It’s a mircale any of Seagal’s wives stayed with him as long as they did. Le Brock in particular. She clearly had some personal issues that probably contributed to that.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  Mona

The key problem with Seagal is his ego. He probably would never allow himself or any character he played to suffer damage or injury. One of the main appeals of John McLane is the fact that he gets beat up, bad, and still ends up saving the day… his vulnerability makes him more real/relatable. Invincible characters, which Seagal seemingly always plays, are boring and predictable.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

To give you bit of a hint about how Steven Seagal’s ego started to at least subtlety grow with him becoming more and more successful, take a look at the way that his character was talked about in the first Under Siege movie to the second one. In the first one, Steven is an a ex-SEAL who is a cook on the ship. A lot of people dismiss him especially the secondary villain, who views him as little more than a cook, and spends the movie getting frustrated with him. By the time Under Siege 2 rolls around however, most… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

A Brief History Of Sexual Assault Allegations Against Steven Seagal: http://uproxx.com/filmdrunk/2015/01/a-brief-history-of-steven-seagal-sexual-assault-allegations/ This morning a I awoke to a slew of emails about a sexual harassment and sexual trafficking lawsuit against Steven Seagal. I get all the Steven Seagal news almost as soon as it happens, thanks to a network of the like-minded I like to call The Kimono Railroad (formerly The Old Thunderbox Mountain Railroad). The links usually cited Fox News or the New York Daily News, regarding a story about a former Seagal assistant named Kayden Nguyen, who was suing Seagal for sexual harassment and sexual trafficking. The name… Read more »

RB
RB
10 years ago

Lmao Daffy! love it.
After reading Lebeau’s summary, I feel like that’s all I ever need to know about anything to do with Seagal despite never having watched any of his movies. Frankly there have been much worse rumors about him, Lebeau gave him a very fair and balanced overview.

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  RB

I don’t know how fair I was. Maybe as “fair and balanced” as Fox News. If someone acused me of doing a hatchet job on Seagal, I wouldn’t argue. I basically dug up his greatest hits of embarassing stories. Unlike most articles I write, the focus was on Seagal’s personal life and antics rather than his career. The reason for that is I have barely seen any of his movies and I’m not starting now. Plus, the stories (and I don’t believe they are all true – just most of them) are so damn entertaining.

Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
10 years ago

Great write-up Lebeau! I hope I don’t lose too much respect here for admitting this, but back in the day I did enjoy his movies. His invulnerable-tough-guy schtick eventually got old after awhile though. There’s so many juicy stories covered here, there’s no way I could comment on them all in one post. Steven Seagal is like a greatest-hits of the worst of the WTHH alumni: huge ego, difficult to work with, meteoric rise and fall, numerous burned bridges, direct-to-dvd career plummet, etc. Seagal probably has an even worse reputation than other actors documented here though. I almost want to… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

Glad you liked it. Especially since your request was the one that finally convinced me to take the plunge and add Seagal to this series. I have to admit, this article wrote itself. Usually, I go back and watch movies I haven’t seen or rewatch ones I haven’t seen in a while. This time, I barely commented on the movies other than who was involved, how mixed were the reviews and how much money did it make. Instead, I just collected the best dirt I could find. Sorting out when certain things happened was the biggest obstacle because Seagal’s stories… Read more »

Leslie
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

Though I love the old Seagal movies, I did enjoy learning these facts about him that i NEVER knew or could have imagined about him!! I never knew any of these things!:) thanks for digging up the “dirt”:)LOL

Paul S
10 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

Lebeau I enjoyed the write-up as always, in fact I almost spat out my coffee when I read about Segal challenging stuntman Gene LeBell, that is priceless!
Like Craig I must admit to enjoying one or two of his older films, I even own Out For Justice on DVD and occasionally switch off my brain to watch Seagal and his ludicrously named maverick cop Gino Fellino going head to head with a completely over-the-top William Forsyth.
Hey, where else but in a Seagal movie would you see a man fatally injured by a stick of salami!

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Paul S

Good to hear from you as always.

There are a lot of Seagal stories that I hope are true. The LeBell story tops the list. If it’s not true, it should be.

I missed the whole Seagal thing. I just wasn’t an action movie fan so I skipped all of his lower budget movies. The only one I ever saw was Under Siege which was okay. I have heard fans speak well of his early films. Lethal salami sounds like fun.

Leslie
10 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

I have to say, though I do love some old Seagal movies,these facts blew me away:)thank you for digging..I’ve looked and looked, I couldn’t find any articles like this about him, thank you for finding them and posting the info, though I still love to watch some old reruns of his good movies from the old days:)

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Leslie

Glad you enjoyed it, Leslie. Personally, I always try to separate the artist from the art. So if you enjoy Seagal’s old movies, keep on enjoying him. There are plenty of actors I like who are jerks in real life. I wouldn’t want to have to work with Mike Myers, but I still love Austin Powers. I doubt I’d want to have lunch with Chevy Chase. But some of his early comedies are some of my favorites. Conversely, there are actors who are wonderful people who have never made a movie I would want to sit through. It goes both… Read more »

RB
RB
10 years ago

Seagal makes Kilmer look like a choir boy, from what I recall there are way more dark elements than were covered here. Also Kilmer had actual acting talent, I don’t think anyone would disagree there. As for Chevy Chase, you know what I’m going to say, I don’t think he’s a bad person at all, an egotistical jerk at times, sure, but violent and degrading, not. One thing I always found interesting about comedy, especially standup comics and those who thrive on improv, is there is no such thing as a comic who has never offended anyone. It’s part of… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago
Reply to  RB

Is Actor Steven Seagal the Biggest Jerk in Hollywood? http://kosmo.hubpages.com/hub/Is-Actor-Steven-Seagal-the-Biggest-Jerk-in-Hollywood Back in the early 1990s Steven Seagal was one of the top box office attractions in Hollywood movies. In the ilk of such cinematic butt-kickers as Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme, Seagal was a martial arts action figure who seemed as tough off the scene as on it. But Seagal’s star has faded in recent years. His films no longer make mega bucks, nearly all of them relegated to DTR (direct-to-video). Now he has to make money by fronting shows on cable TV and playing guitar in a rock… Read more »

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)

12 Bitchiest Movie Stars In Hollywood: http://whatculture.com/film/12-bitchiest-movie-stars-in-hollywood.php/12 Steven Seagal “I think I would rather drink latex paint than be in a movie with Steven Seagal.” – Henry Rollins Henry Rollins isn’t alone in his sentiments. Lately, lone-wolf action hero, Steven Seagal, seems lonelier as he hasn’t made a hit movie in over a decade. When Stallone announced his idea for The Expendables, everyone saw the perfect chance for Seagal to be given a comeback role. Everyone, except Seagal. When asked about his curious absence from the series, Seagal answered he didn’t like some of the people involved and, “life is… Read more »

Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
10 years ago

There’s no doubt Val Kilmer had acting talent, I’d even say Chevy Chase had talent too, though Bill Murray’s insult to him that he’s a “medium talent” when they got into it backstage on SNL is a burn because there’s some truth to that. Steven Seagal, on the other hand…. again back in the day I enjoyed his action movies but let’s be honest, even if I’m giving him a bit of credit he has a very, very small range of talent. There’s a reason why he kept playing a tough-guy cop over and over and over in each of… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

He is still playing that narrow range even though he no longer looks the part. But what else is he going to do? Shakespeare?

Leslie
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

True..what else is he going to play? I mean he DID try to play a different role in his first directed movie..the one about Alaska, On Deadly Ground, but he was crucified for it, and yeah..u r right, what else is he gonna do?:)

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

Washed Up Celebrities: http://washedupcelebrities.blogspot.com/2007/06/steven-seagal.html Unfortunately for Seagal, his career collapsed during the mid-1990s and has yet to recover. One of Seagal’s problems is that he was typecast and generally played the same type of characters in all of his movies – his characters were typically brooding tough cops or engaged in some other kind of law enforcement. Seagal also fell victim to gluttony, seemingly eating every piece of greasy food in sight. Seagal must have gained close to 100 lbs of fat since the mid-1990s and is practically unrecognizable now. He is obese and his abuse of fatty foods in… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

Who Killed Steven Seagal’s Career? http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/011597.php Steven Seagal has had a strange odyssey through Hollywood. He exploded on the scene in 1988, in his self-produced Above the Law after six years of serving as a martial-arts consultant in films. Seagal made a string of largely similar films over the next fifteen years, usually with names that fit “Steven Seagal Is –” above the title, such as “Steven Seagal Is — Out For Justice!” Most of these films were self-produced, and most of them featured a martial-arts master delivering justice in his own very special way. Eventually, audiences found other action… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

1988-2002: A Steven Seagal Theatrical Career Retrospective: http://www.everystevenseagalmovie.com/post/1988-2002-steven-seagal-theatrical-movies/ In 1988, the same year Die Hard was released and just as the overblown action movie craze started to die down, a new star by the name of Steven Seagal burst onto the scene. Seagal was a famous martial artist whose only previous brushes with show-business had been doing stunt work and martial arts training for the movies. One day, in his West Hollywood studio, Seagal took on a new student by the name of Michael Ovitz — a man who just so happened to be a movie producer and the head… Read more »

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

6 tips how Steven Seagal could revive his career: http://www.zimbio.com/Steven+Seagal/articles/RnA50OtwiKV/6+tips+how+Steven+Seagal+revive+career Blame Steven’s movies that pretty much haven’t changed much since the 2000s – same stuff again and again. I am not even talking about all the jokes about Seagal gaining weight and so on. Since I was once a fan, I’ve decided to compile a list of tips that could help revive Seagal’s career. He might not get back to the heights he once was at, but it wouldn’t hurt to try. PLAY DIFFERENT CHARACTERS In almost every movie that Steven Seagal has made he plays pretty much the same… Read more »

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago

I mentioned Seagal’s invincibility in a separate post. It was fun in Above the Law- but got old almost immediately. Look at Die Hard- or even Arnold movies- they take damage. It adds drama.

I suggest Seagal’s ego keeps him from doing this-

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Mastro

Part of what I liked so much about the first Die Hard was that John McClane was just a regular guy and not an invincible super hero. Watching the hero swat down his opponents without breaking a sweat is boring. Or will get old fast as you said. Seagal? Ego? Impossible! 😉

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  admin

Steven Seagal himself even spoofed his “invincible super hero” film image in a Mountain Dew commercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VYLCP0JeIU I do agree that I think audiences after a while caught up in the repetition of Seagal’s movies. It was after he “it hit big” w/ “Under Siege” (ironically, Seagal’s version of “Die Hard”) that it seemed like he’s ego really got let loose (hence, his environmental “vanity project” “On Deadly Ground”). And of course, he rose a big stink over getting killed in “Executive Decision”. I think that had Steven rose to stardom several years prior to “Die Hard”, he may have… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago

That commercial is pretty dang funny.

I agree he should have worked with other more talented people. Problem is, he was such a jerk that everyone he worked with was rooting for his failure.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  Mastro

There’s only so much that you can do with a guy that doesn’t sell anything for his bad buys and doesn’t really rally the audience behind him.

Leslie
10 years ago

Well said, and I would like to see him revive his career also, this was a very good post, I agree with your suggestions completely

Terrence Michael Clay
10 years ago

What Would It Take To Resurrect Steven Seagal’s Career?? http://www.cult-labs.com/forums/271183-post12.html I think the reason why guys like Seagal and Van Damme have disappeared from cinemas is because the landscape of film-making has changed quite drastically since their early-mid 1990s heyday. The studios don’t tend to make any medium-sized action films anymore and it was in this field these guys were popular. It’s also this lack of product which has allowed for a more respectable direct-to-video market. Okay, these guys’ newer films are cheaper-looking than their theatrical outings but the production values are infinitely higher than many of the DTV stuff… Read more »

cinemarchaeologist
10 years ago

THE FIRE DOWN BELOW featured handyman Seagal building a porch in his nice leather jacket, a chase sequence lifted, in every detail, from DUEL, and, most importantly, Harry Dean Stanton singing at the end.

Flop or not, all of this means it must be regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time.

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago

Well, now you’ve gone and made me want to see it. I’m going to end up watching a bunch of Seagal’s movies now that I have written him up.

cinemarchaeologist
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

Stanton singing at the end is definitely worth the price of admission.

andymovieman
andymovieman
10 years ago

seagal might be in expendables 3. what do you guys think about that?

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  andymovieman

I think it would be a good career move for him to get on board before the franchise runs out of steam.

Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

Being completely honest here, Steven Seagal’s days of appearing on the big screen are long past him. That’s no secret, really, just harsh reality. The Expendables 3 is his last shot of ever appearing on a big screen again. Seagal seems to have a big ego — no, scratch that, he seems to have a huuuuge ego, which would make me think something like being able to be seen in a movie on a big screen again would mean something to him, so I would think he would do whatever he has to do get a part in Expendables 3.

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Craig Hansen

I get the impression that Seagal’s ego is so big he doesn’t think he needs to be on the big screen. But I do think it would be mutually beneficial for him and for the series if he agreed to a role.

Terrence Clay (@TMC1982)
Reply to  Craig Hansen

Under Siege was kind of both the best and worst thing to happen to Steven Seagal. Up until that point, he was really a niche or cult film star. Under Siege being such a huge hit allowed him to become more of a mainstream star and it unfortunately, really went to his head. I mean, do we have to look any further than On Deadly Ground and Under Siege 2? By the second half of the ’90s, it’s reasonably arguable that the time of B-grade action movies that he specialized in were fading in popularity anyway. The fact that Seagal… Read more »

Mwerty
Mwerty
10 years ago

Steven Seagal is now facilitating US and Russia relationships a la the Dennis Rodman way. I was reading this article and noticed really fake hair and sun glasses. After perusing through the article, I realized the man who organized the whole Russia and US trip was none other than “one face’ Seagal. Maybe he’ll get a new role as special envoy to Russia since he and Putin love each other. Maybe US politicians will depend on Seagal for foreign relationships by Seagal using his full grown beard and mustache and yellow sunglasses to help out America. You never know:)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/steven-seagal-opened-doors-us-delegation-moscow/story?id=19310164#.Uav9x2TcozQ

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Mwerty

He should be a master negotiator with that poker face. 😉

Salvador
10 years ago

I just discovered your blog, and a damn fine blog it is, I stayed up until almost 2 am reading as many WTHH posts as I could find.
This Seagal post is so far the greatest, I was a child f the late 80s early 90s and was a HUGE fan of him, so this made me laugh hard, nice job!

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Salvador

Glad you liked it and thanks for taking the time to comment. The Seagal article is one of my favorites. Practically wrote itself. I wish there were more like him out there!

Mastro
Mastro
10 years ago

One of the things that got really old with Seagal was his actual fights. The action star always kicks the bad guys butts- but in Seagal movies- he makes it look too easy. This damages the drama – you want to at least see him break a sweat. I imagine his insane ego kept the fights that way- he’s a talented martial artist- but many Hollywood stuntmen are blackbelts. A competitive fight would not be difficult. His injuring of stuntmen is unprofessional- these guys get paid to be beaten up- and in reality could probably wipe the floor with most… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Mastro

There’s an old saying that in movies, the better fighter usually loses. It’s harder to fake getting beat up than it is to fake beating someone up, or so I hear. History has shown that at least one stunt guy can literally kick the crap out of Seagal.

I agree those fights were all about ego. Reportedly, that’s what’s keeping Seagal out of the Expendables movies. He refuses to lose a fight.

Leslie
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

Great post, I have heard that also, about it being harder to play the part of the guy being beat up,and you are dead on when u say that is what is keeping Seagal out of the Expendables movies..that darn ego, refusing to lose a fight,Hmm I WONDER HOW HE WOULD DO AGAINST JASON STATHEM?! that would be good in real life lol

Mastro
Mastro
9 years ago
Reply to  admin

I was just watching a show about movie-making- they had the stunt coordinator of Ender’s Game and Avatar on- Garrett Warren. He got into stunts as a martial arts guy. Three time World Champ.

I wonder if Seagal would sucker punch him?

John
John
9 years ago
Reply to  Mastro

Of course never, BUT because Seagal is “a Zen Master”, “a peaceful and not violent man”, he doesn’t want the battle. Sometimes.

Van Damme knows it, the Zen Master ran so fast that VanDamme couldn’t catch him with his car. He’s still waiting for him.

Seagal is chef too, then sometimes he just cannot fight because he left something in the oven.

admin
Admin
admin
9 years ago
Reply to  Mastro

Back in the day, he might have. Seagal was counting on the fact that he was powerful enough to get anybody fired if they complained. No one would dare take a swing back at him. Not because they were afraid of his martial arts skill. They were afraid of his powerful friends.

vitieddie
vitieddie
10 years ago

Great article. Still catching up on the rest.

Would the decline of the 1980/90s action movie also have led to SS’s demise?
I find it fascinating that movies like Commando and Rambo are consigned to history.

Maybe you should do one “What the hell happened to the 80s action movie?”.

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  vitieddie

Definitely. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, all of those guys had a tough time adapting. Tastes changed. The muscle-bound super hero exemplified by Rambo became less popular. But then, 9/11 happened and the idea of watching these guys dispatch cartoonish terrorists with one-liners was no longer entertaining. Instead, Jason Bourne became the model of the modern action hero.

Vladimir
10 years ago
Reply to  admin

Untill he went full liberal douche. Can’t wait for LeB’s entry on this guy.

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Vladimir

On Damon? He’s probably a ways off. He hasn’t exactly been hitting home runs lately, but he’s still a major star.

Plus, I hear he’s going to be Aquaman in the Justice League movie. 😉 (Internet rumors are fun.)

Vladimir
10 years ago

First of all let me say, I don’t think he has fallen at all. He earned is money and is doing his thing as good as he can. With his dubious history he got away clean. When it’s time to retire, it’s time. I’m not a fan, not even close. But he doesn’t deserve the title of this blog entry. Now, in the nineties, after my army time in the Netherlands, I continued to box for a another, pff, 3 years or so. Then I fiddled with Teakwando. In the nineties I bought a lot of Martial Arts magazines, including… Read more »

admin
Admin
admin
10 years ago
Reply to  Vladimir

I read about the crying on the boat. There were no end of “Seagal’s not a tough guy in real life” stories out there. Very funny stuff.

bajou joe
bajou joe
10 years ago

He may be a creep
,but honestly who in here hasn’t wanted to grab Katherine Heigels boobs??
On a side note though there were some rumours that Chuck once challenged Steven,but i have no idea what fact they hold

http://youtu.be/WEkfnrUI5Z8

Leslie
10 years ago
Reply to  bajou joe

Would have LOVED to have seen Chuck Norris challenge Steven Seagal, I would be CHUCK all the way, though I still like some of Seagal’s old cheesy movies:) I love Chuck and he was the REAL deal, just like Bruce Lee, I use to like to watch the saturday karate challenges on tournaments, on tv with my dad in the 70’s, back when we had 4 channels, and they would show the tournaments,etc on saturdays.Yes, the chuck vs.seagal would have been awesome!!

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