Steve Buscemi has built a career out of portraying some of the most unique and unforgettable characters in recent cinema.

Buscemi has won an Independent Spirit Award, The New York Film Critics Award and was nominated for a Golden Globe for his role in MGM’s “Ghost World” directed by Terry Zwigoff, co-starring Thora Birch and Scarlett Johansson. He was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy for his role as Tony Blundetto in season five of “The Sopranos,” and received Guest Actor Emmy nominations for his appearances on NBC’s “30 Rock” and IFC’s “Portlandia.” He was nominated for a Lola, from the German Film Academy Awards, for his work in “John Rabe,” which was directed by Academy Award winning director Florian Gallenberger.

He starred in the HBO drama, “Boardwalk Empire,” which garnered him a Golden Globe Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy nominations.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Buscemi began to show an interest in drama while in his last year of high school. Soon after, he moved to Manhattan to study acting with John Strasberg. There he and a fellow actor/writer Mark Boone Junior began writing and performing their own theatre pieces in performance spaces and downtown theatres. This soon led to Steve being cast in his first lead role in Bill Sherwood's “Parting Glances” as a musician with AIDS.

Since this impressive breakout performance, Buscemi has become the actor of choice for some of the most respected directors in the business. His resume includes Martin Scorsese's “New York Stories,” Jim Jarmusch's “Coffee And Cigarettes,” and “Mystery Train,” for which he received an IFP Spirit Award Nomination, Alexandre Rockwell's “Somebody To Love,” and the 1992 Sundance Film Festival Jury Award-winner “In The Soup,” Quentin Tarantino's “Reservoir Dogs,” for which he received an IFP Spirit Award for his stand out performance as Mr. Pink, the Coen Brothers' “Miller’s Crossing,” “Barton Fink,” The Academy Award-Winning “Fargo” and “The Big Lebowski,” “Twenty Bucks,” Tom Dicillo's Double Whammy,” and his Sundance Film Festival Award-winning “Living In Oblivion” with Dermot Mulroney and Catherine Keener, “Desperado,” “Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead,” Robert Altman's “Kansas City,” John Carpenter's “Escape From L.A.” with Kurt Russell, Jerry Bruckheimer Productions’ “Con Air” and “Armageddon,” Stanley Tucci's “The Imposters,” the HBO telefilm “The Laramie Project,” “Love In The Time Of Money,” Tim Burton’s “Big Fish,” Michael Bay’s “The Island,” Terry Zwigoff’s “Art School Confidential,” “I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry” with Adam Sandler, “I Think I Love My Wife” with Chris Rock and numerous cameo appearances in films such as “Rising Sun,” “The Hudsucker Proxy,” “Big Daddy,” “Pulp Fiction,” and “The Wedding Singer.” Buscemi’s recent screen credits include Miguel Arteta’s “Youth in Revolt,” Oren Moverman’s directorial debut, “The Messenger,” “Rampart,” “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone” opposite Steve Carell and Jim Carrey, “Grown Ups 2” opposite Adam Sandler, “Time Out Of Mind,” and “Norman” from director Joseph Cedar. Buscemi co-starred in the critically acclaimed web series “Horace and Pete” as well as in Joseph Cedar's film “Norman.” He co-starred in Armando Iannucci’s political satire “The Death of Stalin, and in “Lean On Pete” from director Andrew Haigh. His performance in the film earned him a British Independent Film Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. He also co-starred opposite Andrea Riseborough in the feature film “Nancy" written and directed by Christina Choe, and appeared in Channel 4 (UK) and Amazon Prime’s anthology series “Phillip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams.”

Buscemi has provided the voices for characters in many animated features including Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.” and “Monsters University” as the voice of Randall Boggs; Columbia Pictures’ “Final Fantasy,” and “Charlotte’s Web” as the voice of “Templeton” the rat. He was the voice of Nebbercracker in Sony Pictures’ Oscar nominated animated film “Monster House,” executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis, and the voice of Scamper in MGM’s “Igor” opposite John Cusack. His other voice credits include “G-Force,” produced by Jerry Bruckheimer for Disney, and Columbia Pictures’ “Hotel Transylvania,” “Hotel Transylvania 2,” and “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation” as the voice of “Wayne.” He was heard opposite Alec Baldwin in the Dreamworks Animation film “The Boss Baby,” which was nominated for an Academy Award in 2018.

In addition to his talents as an accomplished actor, Buscemi has proven to be a respected writer and director. His first project was a short film entitled “What Happened To Pete,” which was featured at several film festivals including Rotterdam and LoCarno, and which aired on the Bravo Network.

He marked his full-length feature film directorial debut with “Trees Lounge,” which he also wrote and starred in. The film, which co-starred Chloë Sevigny, Sam Jackson, and Anthony LaPaglia, made its debut in the Directors' Fortnight at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival, and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Buscemi’s second feature film as a director, “Animal Factory,” told the story about a young man sent to prison for an unjustly harsh sentence, who eventually becomes a product of his environment. The film, based on a book by Edward Bunker, starred Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong, and premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival.

IFC released his third directorial feature, “Lonesome Jim,” a comedy-drama about a dysfunctional family, starring Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler. It was named one of the year’s top ten independent films by the National Board of Review, and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

In 2007, Sony Pictures Classics released “Interview” which Buscemi also co-wrote, directed, and starred in with Sienna Miller. This Theo Van Gogh remake premiered the Sundance Film Festival that same year.

In A Good Job: Stories Of The Fdny, a film by Oscar nominated director Liz Garbus and Buscemi (a former New York City firefighter) for HBO, Buscemi explores what it’s like to work in one of the most demanding fire departments in the world, where going to work means risking it all. From old New York to the post-9/11 landscape, the film reveals the immense mental and physical toll that fire-fighting takes on individuals, and on the community borne out of sharing an incredible responsibility.

Buscemi’s directing work also includes numerous television credits, including HBO’s “Homicide: Life On The Street,” for which he was nominated for a DGA Award, and HBO’s “The Sopranos,” for which he was nominated for an Emmy and DGA Award for directing the “Pine Barrens” episode during the third season. He has directed episodes of the Emmy Award winning Show “30 ROCK”, Showtime’s critically acclaimed drama “Nurse Jackie” starring Edie Falco, IFC’s “Portlandia” as well as the Netflix series “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and “love.”

Buscemi started a New York based independent film and television production company in 2008, called Olive Productions, with Producer Wren Arthur. The company produces an eclectic array of TV projects as well as narrative and documentary films. Using its combined and extensive experience, the company’s mandate is to tell stories with great characters, humor, and compassion. Olive recently signed a multi-year overall television first-look deal with global indie Entertainment One.

“Park Bench with Steve Buscemi,” is a critically acclaimed and award winning web-series for AOL, produced by Olive Productions and Radical Media. The show features Buscemi and his titular bench in a variety of locations throughout his hometown, talking to everyday New Yorkers as well as celebrity friends. The show earned an Emmy for Outstanding Short Form Variety Series in 2016.

In the fall of 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Buscemi as a member of the Cultural Affairs Advisory Commission. The Commission, comprised of appointees from a diverse array of cultural and artistic organizations and practices, advises Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner of Cultural Affairs Tom Finkelpearl on issues impacting NYC's cultural community.

To honor Buscemi’s contributions to cinema, the National Association of Theatre Owners presented him with the 2019 CinemaCon Icon Award.

Buscemi’s recent work includes “The Dead Don’t Die” from director Jim Jarmusch; and “The King of Staten Island,” a semi-autobiographical comedy-drama with Pete Davidson, directed by Judd Apatow.  Buscemi’s latest directorial effort, “The Listener,” starring Tessa Thompson, premiered at the Venice Film Festival. He currenty co-stars opposite Daniel Radcliffe in the TBS’ anthology comedy series “Miracle Workers,” executive produced by Lorne Michaels.