Action stars’ careers are the stuff of legends. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone fought an outright war in the 80s. Chuck Norris developed a TV personality that was 90% roundhouse kicks. And then there was Steven Seagal.
Steven Seagal came out of nowhere and quickly became the new star on the action firmament. He began his cinema career in the late 80’s and early 90’s with a series of hit action films like Nico, Hard to Kill and Red Alert, which is still considered by many to be his best film. 30 years later, Seagal has been producing direct-to-video junk for decades, whose productions put even loyal fans to shame. What happened?
‘Big Ass’: Action star Steven Seagal is bombarded by 1000 controversies
Schwarzenegger, Stallone or Willis all had to downsize at some point in their careers, but that was mainly due to the development of the action market. This factor may also have contributed to Steven Seagal’s case. But it was his own fault in the first place.
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Steven Seagal in Hard to Kill
Over a period of several decades, various women have accused Seagal of sexual assault. The Allegations range from sexual assault and assault to rape, as Espinof and Vulture write.
In addition, Seagal is said to have been condescending and violent on many film sets. As host of the time-honoured comedy format Saturday Night Live he allegedly insulted the cast and delivered one of the worst performances in the show’s history (via Far Out Magazine). But that’s nothing.
According to John Wick star John Leguizamo, Steven Seagal told Seagal on the set of Alone’s Choice that his word was law and when his co-star started giggling, he elbowed him in the body (via Q with Tom Power). A sci-fi director would have preferred to scrap his film than shoot with the “giant ass”.
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Steven Seagal in Beyond the Law
While filming Deadly Revenge, an angry stuntman reportedly choked Seagal so severely that the star lost control of his sphincter. According to fellow martial artist Michael Jai White, it’s normal for Seagal to actually hit stunt people in action scenes (via Vlad TV).
Hollywood dumped Steven Seagal after action flops
The production studio Warner invested a lot of money in the action cash cow Seagal in the 90s and was apparently willing to overlook various controversies. But as of 1994’s On the Burning Ice, most of his films have flopped at the box office, and the tally didn’t add up. From then on, the actor was on his own.
Since then, Steven Seagal’s career has been in the direct-to-DVD space, with a few exceptions like Exit Wounds. His name still resonates with action fans, even if most critics don’t give a damn about his films anymore. There are many who find some of his films quite entertaining. And hope never to meet him.
The 10 biggest streaming films of 2023 on Netflix, Amazon & Co.
In this installment of our Moviepilot podcast, Stream Browsing, we take a look at the big movies coming exclusively to Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Apple TV+ this year. The result is a list of ten special recommendations.
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From the sci-fi epic to the potential Oscar nominee, everything is included. The talents gathered are particularly impressive. In 2023 we can expect new movies from Martin Scorsese, David Fincher and Zack Snyder in the streaming space, while Gal Gadot, Leonardo DiCaprio, Henry Cavill and Chris Hemsworth will be in front of the camera.
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