Steve Buscemi stars as Nucky Thompson in the first, second, third, fourth and fifth seasons.
Trivia[]
Family[]
- Brother: Jon Buscemi.
- Brother: Ken Buscemi.
- Brother: Michael Buscemi. Directed by brother, Steve in Trees Lounge (1996) where they played onscreen brothers
- Father: John Buscemi. Italian American; Korean War veteran
- Mother: Dorothy Buscemi. Irish American
- Son: Lucian Buscemi. Born in 1991; mother, Jo Andres; appeared in mother s film Black Kite (1995) and his father s film Trees Lounge (1996)
Significant Others[]
- Wife: Jo Andres. Married in 1987; edited Buscemi's short film What Happened to Pete? (1993); husband has appeared in her performance pieces
Education[]
- Valley Stream Central High School, Valley Stream, New York, 1975
- Nassau Community College, East Garden City, New York
- Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, New York, New York
Milestones[]
- 1978 Moved to the East Village, becoming involved with the downtown performance scene
- 1980 Served as a firefighter for four years with the FDNY
- 1981 Introduced by a fellow fireman-actor Dean Tulipane to a theater group at Westbeth, an artists housing complex
- 1984 Screen debut, The Way It Is, or Eurydice in the Avenues
- 1985 Left the Fire Department to pursue acting full-time
- 1986 First featured role, played Nick, an AIDS stricken man in the independent feature Parting Glances
- 1988 First mainstream feature credit, Vibes
- 1989 TV miniseries debut in the hit CBS Western Lonesome Dove
- 1990 First collaboration with the Coen brothers, Miller's Crossing
- 1990 Played the henchman of Laurence Fishburne named Test Tube in Abel Ferrara's King of New York
- 1991 Portrayed Chet the bellhop at the Hotel Earle in the Coen's Barton Fink
- 1992 Breakthrough supporting role as Mr. Pink in Quentin Tarantino's debut feature Reservoir Dogs
- 1992 First starring role in Alexandre Rockwell's In the Soup
- 1993 Filmmaking debut (produced, directed and wrote) the 14-minute short, What Happened to Pete?
- 1994 Played John Travolta and Uma Thurman's surly Buddy Holly waiter at Jackrabbit Slim's in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction
- 1994 Portrayed Nick Reve, a struggling indie filmmaker in Tom DiCillo s 17-minute short Scene Six, Take One
- 1994 Staged a reading of his screenplay Trees Lounge in New York City
- 1995 Co-starred with Christopher Walken in Gary Fleder's Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead
- 1995 First film with actor Danny Trejo, Robert Rodriguez's Desperado
- 1995 Produced and acted in the 26-minute experimental short Black Kites (helmed by wife Jo Andres)
- 1995 Reprised role of Nick Reve in DiCillo s feature-length Living in Oblivion
- 1996 Fourth film with the Coens, Fargo; cast as bumbling kidnapper-for-hire
- 1996 Made feature debut as writer-director with Trees Lounge; also starred
- 1997 Directed TV commercials for Nike
- 1997 Re-teamed with DiCillo again playing Nick in The Real Blonde
- 1997 Re-teamed with Trejo in Con Air; first association with producer Jerry Bruckheimer
- 1998 Co-starred in Stanley Tucci s period comedy The Impostors portraying a suicidal crooner; sang The Nearness of You in the film
- 1998 Fifth collaboration with Ethan and Joel Coen, The Big Lebowski
- 1998 Helmed an episode of the NBC police drama Homicide: Life on the Street; received a Director's Guild of America Award nomination
- 1998 Joined the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced ensemble Armageddon
- 1999 Directed an episode of the HBO prison-drama Oz, entitled "U.S. Male"
- 2000 Directed the "Pine Barrens" episode of the HBO series The Sopranos; earned Emmy nomination
- 2000 Feature debut as a producer, Animal Factory (also directed and acted); Trejo acted and served as an executive producer
- 2001 Cast in a supporting role as Seymour in the critically hailed Ghost World
- 2001 Directed a second episode of Oz entitled "Cuts Like a Knife"
- 2002 Helmed second episode of The Sopranos, titled Everybody Hurts
- 2002 Reunited with Robert Rodriguez to film Spy Kids 2: The Island Of Lost Dreams
- 2003 Appeared in a segment of the independent feature Coffee and Cigarettes directed by Jim Jarmusch
- 2003 Portrayed Norther Winslow in Tim Burton's fantasy drama Big Fish
- 2004 Cast as Tony Soprano's (James Gandolfini) cousin Tony Blundetto on the fifth season of The Sopranos (HBO); earned an Emmy (2004) nomination for Supporting Actor in a Drama
- 2005 Cast in John Turturro's big-screen musical Romance & Cigarettes (released theatrically in 2007)
- 2006 Directed Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler in Lonesome Jim
- 2006 Voiced Templeton the rat in live-action/computer-animated feature film Charlotte's Web, based on the book by E.B. White
- 2007 Appeared in a guest role as a private eye on NBC's 30 Rock; earned an Emmy nomination for the role
- 2007 Helmed a remake of murdered Dutch filmmaker, Theo van Gogh's film Interview; co-starred as a journalist interviewing a celebrity (Sienna Miller); also utilized much of Van Gogh's crew, including his director of photography
- 2010 Appeared in the ensemble comedy Grown Ups, about five friends who reunite for a Fourth of July holiday weekend
- 2010 Cast in HBO s Boardwalk Empire as Enoch Nucky Thompson, who is based on New Jersey political boss and racketeer Enoch L. Johnson.
- 2010 Played Michael Cera's greedy and temperamental father in the film adaptation of C.D. Payne's Youth in Revolt
- Also on the advice of his father, took the Civil Service exam for the New York City Fire Department
- Began performing while in high school
- Earliest TV guest shots on Miami Vice (NBC) and The Equalizer (CBS)
- Joined Tarantino's "A Band Apart" roster of commercial directors
- On the advice of his father, took acting lessons at the Lee Strasberg Institute
- Performed as a stand-up comic with actor Rockets Redglare at the now defunct Taxi Cabaret; met future wife, Jo Anders
- Raised in Long Island, NY from age eight
Credits[]
Star