STEVE BUSCEMI (Randall) lends his distinctive voice to the character of a cunning, chameleon-like competitor who will stop at nothing to become the new top Scarer at MI.
According to the actor, "Randall has a real evil streak and has no scruples about getting to the top. He likes to scare little kids and he doesn't have a lot of patience. He basically yells a lot. My voice for this character seems to be at its best when its strained and I'm dead tired, so I usually stay out all night to prepare for it. Anything for my craft. "At the recording sessions, you could tell that everybody who works at Pixar loves what they do and are fully committed to the project," adds Buscemi. "It's nice to see people who are truly like kids themselves. Clearly they make the films for themselves and they are never trying to second guess what kids might like. I've loved every one of their films and I'm happy to be a part of this one. "Doing an animated voice is fun because you have to exaggerate and go over the top a bit," he observes. "I like being able to just use my voice and not have to worry about what I look like. You can be a bit silly and it's a great relief to not care how you look." Buscemi has built a career by portraying a variety of remarkable characters, bringing to each of them such uniqueness that each and every role is unforgettable. 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 fellow actor/writer Mark Boone, Jr., began writing and performing their own theater pieces in performance spaces and downtown theaters. This soon led to his being cast in his first lead role, in Bill Sherwood's "Parting Glances," in which he played a musician with AIDS. Since then, he has become the actor of choice for many of the best directors in the business. His resume includes Jim Jarmusch's "Mystery Train," for which he received an IFP Independent Spirit Award nomination; Alexandre Rockwell's Sundance Film Festival Jury Award-winner "In the Soup" and "Somebody to Love"; Martin Scorsese's segment of "New York Stories"; the Coen Brothers' films "Miller's Crossing," "Barton Fink," the Academy Award�-winning "Fargo," and "The Big Lebowski"; Stanley Tucci's "The Imposters"; the Jerry Bruckheimer productions "Con Air" and "Armageddon"; Tom DiCillo's "Living in Oblivion," with Dermot Mulroney and James LeGros; "Twenty Bucks"; John Carpenter's "Escape from L.A."; "Desperado"; "Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead"; an IFP Independent Spirit Award-winning turn as Mr. Pink in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs"; and Robert Altman's "Kansas City." He has also performed numerous cameo appearances in such films as "Rising Sun," "The Hudsucker Proxy," "Big Daddy," and "The Wedding Singer." Buscemi was recently seen in MGM's "Ghost World," directed by Terry Zwigoff and co-starring Thora Birch, for which he won an Independent Spirit Award. Other recently completed projects include, "Domestic Disturbance" opposite John Travolta and Vince Vaughn; Alexandre Rockwell's "13 Moons", Tom DiCillo's "Double Whammy", and the HBO telefilm "The Laramie Project". Buscemi can currently be seen in Sony Picture's "Mr. Deeds" opposite Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder playing the character Crazy Eyes. He can also be seen in Dimension Film's "Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams" with Antonio Banderas and Bill Baxton, directed by Robert Rodriguez. In the Fall, Buscemi will be seen in Lions Gate's "The Grey Zone" with Harvey Keitel, David Arquette and Mira Sorvino, direceted by Tim Blake Nelson; and "Love in the Time of Money" directed by Peter Mattei. In addition to his talents as an actor, Buscemi has proven to be a respected writer and director, as well. His first project was a short film entitled "What Happened to Pete," which was featured at several film festivals, including Rotterdam and LoCarno, and aired on the Bravo Network. In 1996, he made his full-length feature film debut with "Trees Lounge," which he also wrote and starred in. The film, which co-starred Chloe Sevigny, Samuel L. Jackson, and Anthony La Paglia, made its debut in the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival and was subsequently released theatrically. Last year, Buscemi's second feature film as a director, "Animal Factory," was released in theaters to critical acclaim. It is a story about a young man, sent to prison with an unjustly harsh sentence, who becomes a product of that rough environment. The film stars Willem Dafoe and Edward Furlong. Buscemi was recently nominated for an Emmy Award for his directing effort on the HBO series, "The Sopranos." |
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