Seagal Blames FBI For Floundering Career

[Nomad559]

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=3493849&page=1

Movie buffs might assume that '90s action star Steven Seagal's career took a nosedive due to changing audience tastes, the emergence of younger muscle-bound actors or that his acting was less than Oscar-worthy.

Well, you could be mistaken.

According to Seagal, it's the FBI's fault that he now stars in low-budget movies that go straight to video. And he wants an apology from the bureau.

The 56-year-old pony-tailed martial-arts expert broke a long silence today to complain that his career was devastated by an FBI affidavit in 2002 that described allegations that he was involved in a plot to intimidate two journalists out of writing stories about him.

"False FBI accusations fueled thousands of articles saying that I terrorize journalists and associate with the mafia," Seagal told the Los Angeles Times. "These kinds of inflammatory allegations scare studio heads and independent producers -– and kill careers."

:rofl:

[Greeby]

1. Oh right, and nothing to do with the fact you absolutely suck?

Remember Executive Decision? I wonder how many people went to see it once they heard he died early on in it? :evilgrin:

[DCKit]

4. Heartily agree. I can't watch any of his movies. n/t

[DRoseDARs]

5. That was my first thought too; his career was in the toilet looong before the false allegations. nt

[awoke_in_2003]

6. Yeah, he sucked

but he was still better than Keaneu Reeves :)

[jgraz]

2. Jeez, you'd think he'd just take the money and run

He's made more than most talentless hacks, Michael Bay notwithstanding...

[Benhurst]

3. He could have been a contender, another

Ronald Reagan.

[Simeon Salus]

7. The only actor I've ever seen cheered when his hero character was killed (in 1996)

A bunch of us went to see "Executive Decision" at a small-town movie theater when it opened in March 1996. (This B-movie eerily forecasts the use of hijacked aircraft as terrorist weapons over 5 years before 9/11.)

But to the story:

In the movie Seagal plays (Lieutenant Colonel Austin Travis), the stereotypically big-dicked special forces commander and he spends his first 25 minutes berating the Kurt Russell hero character for his intel, his tux, and other stuff. During a risky aerial transfer from a Stealth bomber to the hijacked airliner, Seagal's character is sucked out into atmo at 40,000 feet.

The opening night audience I was in jumped to their feet and CHEERED!

Never seen a hero's unexpected death cheered before. It was strangely exhilarating.

So there's an anecdotal constituency out there for quite a while who've judged Seagal negatively, well before the FBI said squat in this case.

[bperci108]

8. Gee, Steven....

I'm sure that it had nothing to do with the fact that you are a scowling one-trick-pony and a talentless asshat.

Some people just take themselves waaaayyyyyy too seriously. :silly:

[chemp]

9. I was just about to post this...

Lessee, It's the FBI's fault.
Not is poor movie choices.
Not his inability to act.
Not his sped up "action' scenes made it look he can move even remotely quickly.
Not his enormous Buddha Belly.
And of course not that he was accused of beating his (then) wife.

No it's the FBI.

I guess I'll blame the CIA next time I miss a deadline. (Schmuck)