Steve Buscemi Dishes on DirecTV, SNL50 and Working on ‘Wednesday’

As a born and bred New Yorker, Steve Buscemi is very familiar with a certain segment of the city’s population — pigeons. So he didn’t have to dive too deeply into research to prepare for voicing his role as Bobby, an “outspoken and sarcastic” bird opposite Winkler’s “even-tempered and optimistic” Frank in an ongoing campaign for DirecTV called “For the Birds.”

“He just seems very New York to me,” Buscemi told The Hollywood Reporter. “He’s used to living. He doesn’t exactly live on the street, but instead lives a lot on rooftops. He’s probably very old school and doesn’t really welcome change too easily. He’s set in his ways but I think he’s got a good pigeon heart. He appreciates having a buddy like Frank even though Frank sometimes annoys him, but he’s a good friend nonetheless.”

That might be the nicest compliment a local has directed at a pigeon in quite some time. But Buscemi shared plenty of other kind words below in an interview with THR to discuss the newest installment of the DirecTV campaign that finds Bobby and Frank joined by Tammy the Squirrel, voiced by comedy star Kristen Schaal, who helps the pair learn about the conveniences of streaming DirecTV satellite-free. (The commercial is designed to highlight DirecTV user interface and content integration capabilities across a breadth of content, whether the customer prefers linear TV content, SVODs or a combination.)

Bobby is described as outspoken and sarcastic. What’s your take on Bobby and how do you approach voicing a pigeon?

He just seems very New York to me, whatever that means. He’s used to living. He doesn’t exactly live on the street, but instead lives a lot on rooftops. He’s probably very old school and doesn’t really welcome change too easily. He’s set in his ways but I think he’s got a good pigeon heart. He appreciates having a buddy like Frank even though Frank sometimes annoys him, but he’s a good friend nonetheless.

I’ve seen the first two spots but not this third installment. What can you tell me?

It was fun because a new character was introduced by way of a squirrel who sort of inserts herself into our conversation and she has a lot to say. She doesn’t exactly render us speechless but we’re sort of taken aback. The squirrel is a really fun character, played by Kristen Schaal who I worked with many years ago on a Tom DiCillo film [Delirious]. I’m trying to remember the last time I even saw her since working on that movie, but I’ve always been a huge fan of her work especially What We Do in the Shadows. I thought she was a perfect addition to that cast and I hope there’s more to come with her.

She’s amazing, always. And you were both on 30 Rock.  

Oh, yeah. But I never had a scene with her.

You share scenes on the DirecTV spots with Henry Winkler but he said one of the bummers of doing this is that you don’t get to see each other while recording. What can you say about Henry?

I wish we could do it together. It is challenging to schedule because we live in different parts of the country, but it would be great if we could both be there in the room at the same time. The way these things are done, we usually record them line by line. I’m really happy that it’s Henry because I’ve known his work for years and I just love him. When I’m doing it, I can imagine his reaction and sometimes if he’s recorded before me, then I get to hear what he’s done. It still works. The directors, the editors and the whole team do a really great job making it seem like we’re on the same rooftop.

The last one was really fun, too, with Deion Sanders. That spot was introduced to help promote DirecTV’s free streaming football package. It made me curious about what Steve Buscemi is streaming. Are you a football guy?

I’m not a sports fan anymore. I used to be, but I’ve just sort of fallen out of that. But it was great to be able to be doing scenes with Coach Prime (Sanders) because again, it’s great to have another strong personality to interact with. It just makes it even more fun. But no, I don’t stream or watch sports much, but I like to catch up on movies and TV shows.

This DirecTV campaign is the latest high-profile example of your long and impressive list of voiceover credits. Digging through your resume, voiceover work has been an important part of your career over the last 25 years, starting with Final Fantasy and Monsters Inc. in 2001. Is there a strategy when it comes to voiceover work?

Well, it’s been really fun. If it’s something that looks fun to do or the team behind it is interesting. The most recent one I did was the Transformers One film, and that had an amazing cast. The work with Pixar on Monsters Inc. was really because I loved their work. What actor wouldn’t want to be a villain in a Pixar film?

My son has now moved out of the house — he’s long gone — but part of the appeal at the beginning was because I could stay in New York and not be away as much. But now that I’ve been doing it all these years, I just find that it’s really fun to do and relatively easy and really interesting. I’ve gotten to play a variety of characters on a variety of different movies, TV shows and commercials. I never really thought I would have a career in, first of all, acting, but then in voice acting.

Years ago, when I was a kid, my parents took me and my brothers to some festival or something and Mel Blanc was speaking. I’m nothing like him because I don’t do different types of voices. The work I do is always some variation on my own voice but I was so impressed with the different kinds of voices that he did. I was also just impressed that there was a human voice behind these animated characters. As a kid that blew my mind that there could be one guy doing all these different kinds of voices. I’m a character actor, and for me, voice acting has just been another avenue for me to expand what I’ve always been doing.

Speaking of your voice, there were a bunch of headlines out of the Berlin Film Festival recently because Robert Pattinson, who was there for the world premiere of Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17, said he modeled his accent in the film after yours in Fargo. Did you hear about that? How does it make you feel to know that your work in Fargo is still inspiring other actors?

I’m kind of blown away that happened. No, I haven’t heard that and I haven’t seen the film. My character and Peter Stormare’s character were sort of outsiders so I never did that Minnesotan accent. I’m not sure if that’s what he meant or if he was inspired by my accent, my voice or the way my character spoke. Without seeing the film, I’m not sure what he’s referring to but I’m blown away by it.

Millions of Wednesday fans around the world are eager to know about your work in the Netflix series. I know it’s been revealed that you play the principal at Nevermore Academy and I also know that you’ve probably been sworn to secrecy. But what can you tell me about the experience of filming that series opposite Jenna Ortega?

I can say that I loved working with Jenna. I had worked with her earlier in the year on Klara and the Sun in New Zealand so I got to know her a little bit before then working with her on Wednesday. It was a really fun set. We shot it in Dublin. It doesn’t take place in Ireland, but that’s where we were shooting for months and months. It was a wonderful place to live and work. I also got to work with Tim Burton again. It had been over 20 years since we did Big Fish together. I’m such a huge fan of his and the way he works, his energy, the way he sees the world. I also got to work with the rest of the cast, too, because I have some scenes with all of the Addams family and my character. I’ve been a big fan of The Addams Family since I was a kid so it was surreal and very exciting. It was a really, really fun experience.

I can’t wait to see it. I saw some photos of you at the SNL50 celebration. You’re a beloved member of the Saturday Night Live family as a two-time host. You’ve also worked so closely on various projects with so many stars that were there including Adam Sandler, Tina Fey and Scarlett Johansson. What was it like to be in that room with so many of your pals?

It was amazing. Just sitting in the audience alone was pretty amazing. I kept turning my head to see who was sitting around me. I’m such a fan of so many people in that room, some of them I had worked with or have known a little bit so it was great to catch up. I found myself at the after party looking for people that I never found. There were so many people there and the party was so big. I kept looking for Sandler and never found him. We texted the next day. I know I’ll see him again soon. I always love working with him. But I have to say that there was such love in that room. It was an amazing show, really funny. I love how they never really take themselves too seriously. They’re certainly not above satirizing themselves. A real highlight for me was that very funny, very sincere song that Adam sang.

It was so beautiful. Let’s stay on New York. You’re such a part of the fabric of that city and Brooklyn. How are you feeling about the city these days. I know you had an unfortunate incident happen not that long ago. Have your feelings about New York changed in the wake of that?

I don’t consider it in the “wake of what happened.” This is where I live. I’ve always been in some part of New York so I don’t really think about that incident. I’ve always loved this city and I always will. I’m always aware that it goes through changes and we go through challenges. Sometimes there’s turmoil but we always seem to come through. And the people here, we always band together in the face of any problems that arise. It’s an amazing city, and that’s why people from all over the world come here to live.