Interview with Steven Seagal: July 27, 2004 !!!

yudansha

TheGreatOne
Thanks alot for the translation, Kcs! It's greatly appreciated!

Very patriotic of him ... "I think President Putin is a real leader, I am a huge fan of him."

Seagal's father - the CIA agent... Is that new information?

"So far I haven’t seen anybody, who has really new ideas."
Do you think Seagal forgot about Matrix (from which the idea was taken for that bullet in OFAK ... and all the 'revolutionary' wire-fu ...)?

Still, very interesting interview. Thanks, Kcs!

Did you know that one of the main languages in Bulgaria is Russian?
 

Littledragon

Above The Law
Thanks!

Kcs said:
Hi,

here is the translation:

"REINCARNATION OF A TIBETIAN LAMA
Steven Seagal

27. July, 2004
László Kriston

Irony of fate or the reality of hard times that the apostle of a religion without violence is the king of violent films? Or does he carry a task from his previous lives to represent the “warrior” in our society? We made an interview with Steven Seagal on the Moscow Film Festival.

This 2 metres tall man wears an Indian short fur-lined coat, he put his hands together Hindu style and bows when he greets someone. And when his nose is full, he blows the air out with a loud grunt. The trademarks of the action king of the nineties are the ponytail and the morose look. During our conversation there are no more emotions than in his films, Under Siege, Half Past Dead and the other macho-style piece of arts. And we know that in these films Segal’s characters do not express lot of emotions.

You look tired…
My flight was 18 hours long, we arrived 2:30 am. I didn’t have time to sleep. Everybody would be tired under these circumstances. And I’m unable to sleep on a plane. But I wanted to come here, because my father was Russian, he spoke the language, and as a child, I understood quite a lot from the Russian words. There are wonderful spiritual, cultural and artistic traditions here. I agreed with my “filmmaking family” to help filmmaker from Russia and from other countries. Those, who had a difficult past here or in Thailand, or in China. I’ll make a foundation which is going to help them not only financially, but politically and socially as well. In Hollywood two things count: how much money you have, and who do you know. We want to help them developing their carrier.

Only a few people know that you are a musician as well.
Music is the language of gods for me. There is something sacral in it. It is the most secret language in the world. Music is the language, which is able to unite people in the world, going beyond political and religious conflicts. Music have been my first love. I was born crying, which means that I was sining. I belive, that music is the celebration of life. I have written 131 songs so far, and now I’ve decided to release a few of them on a CD. The producer of it is going to be a man, who has won 32 Grammy Awards, and worked together with for example Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez. After the CD is released, I’ll start a world tour, and on lot of my concerts are going to be charity concerts to help those pepole, who are suffering privation.

But your most popular acticity is going to be making action movies in the future too. Are you satisfied with the young, new action heros?
So far I haven’t seen anybody, who has really new ideas. Some actors are probably copying me. Not because I am so good, but they saw me before. I have invented a lot of new things in the genre, but so did other actors as well. But I don’t see anybody right now, who could be able to find out new things.

Is it true that the mafia threatened you?
Maybe I should have asked the organisers of this film festival to tell the journalists, that I would like to talk about spirituality, filosophy and my work, and nothing else. We are on a film festival! CNN and other television stations reported about a trial where some criminals involved in an extortion case were arrested. Let me underline that these criminals are in prison, and I had only a very little part in this case.


Do you follow politics?
I try to be as apolitical as possible. I am a mystic man, who dedicates his life to the spiritual cognition. I am not a fan of world politics. Politicians are like sharks. But I would like to underline that there is a huge difference between a politician and a leader. For example, I think President Putin is a real leader, I am a huge fan of him. This doesn’t mean that I am a political type. A spiritual man should remain apolitical.


Interesting, because according to some rumours, you have a really interesting past with some political aspects as well (some biographies say that Seagal was grown up in Shanghai with his CIA-agent father, later he joined CIA and had missions in Japan and in Central America – however some journalists made investigations, and don’t belive the story). Don’t you plan to make a movie about your life?
No, it is way too early to make a movie about my life.

Two years ago I read in a newspaper that you were one of your teachers has accorded you as a reincarnation of a Tibetian Lama. After this you were awarded a new title. Is this true?
This is one of those rare news regarding me which is true. The story is a bit deeper than you’ve said, but so far I haven’t talked with the press about this before. But I’ll tell itt o you. During the late 80’s I met a Tibetian lama, who had the impression that I am a reincarnation of a lama. Later I had the possibility to meet Tibetian religious leaders, who had the same impression. They sent a delegation to those Tibetian mystical people, who live 14-17000 feet high int he Himalaya mountains, and are listening inside. After this I participated on an initiational ceremony, and changed my life for a few years: I concentrated on my spiritual work, and I learned from a lot of teachers. I helped those who suffer. This was like charity, but the best words to describe it are „spiritual work”. We shouldn’t keep our spiritual knowledge inside of us, with the force we have thanks to our spiritual developement we can help a lot of people.

Isn’t it strange that you make violent films, but you belive in a philosophy which is against violence?
It is useful to know that spiritual work does not mean that you have to sit all day and meditate. It can mean that you go in the trench as a warrior and fight. Defending those who suffer, fighting for the deprived people, for the innocents. That is what I try to do in my life. We call movies movies because they are fictious, they want to tell us a story. A writer writes a story, actors play it. But movies should reflect real life too. And in life there are good and bad things, nice and ugly things as well. I am playing roles. But this has nothing to do with the religious aspect of my life. According to my contract with Warner Studios, I am planning to make six movies in the next two years. But despite the rumours Under Siege 3 is not in this list. Who knows, maybe on a day it is going to be created, but this is a thing that one does for the money."

Greetings,
Kcs


Thank you for the translation KCS!!
 

Nico

Lost without you
Great interview! He seems very open and forthcomming, the lack of sleep must be getting to him, just kidding.

Nico
 

yudansha

TheGreatOne
LOL Tora but I think you've mispelled one of the words...

... "Nu cho,Steve,po-russki to budesh [pit],a?"
 

Reservoir Dog

MRKD4DTH
Great interview!!

Thank you suzi and KCS. Very interesting stuff. According to the article, there are at least 6 more films going to be made, so that stuff about retiring after "Submerged" must have been false. Also, US3 is not one of those, so I guess we can finally put that rumor to rest. I had no idea he had a contract with WB, dont you think we would have heard about it? I wonder if that includes "Into the Sun" or not, and even so, thats still great news. I also noticed he said it is too early to think about making a movie of his life. This must mean he has no intention of retiring anytime soon.


Thanks again!
 

Littledragon

Above The Law
Reservoir Dog said:
Thank you suzi and KCS. Very interesting stuff. According to the article, there are at least 6 more films going to be made, so that stuff about retiring after "Submerged" must have been false. Also, US3 is not one of those, so I guess we can finally put that rumor to rest. I had no idea he had a contract with WB, dont you think we would have heard about it? I wonder if that includes "Into the Sun" or not, and even so, thats still great news. I also noticed he said it is too early to think about making a movie of his life. This must mean he has no intention of retiring anytime soon.


Thanks again!


Ye, I knew that US3 would never be made anyway. I remember hearing him say in an interview that HE himself would not be in another Under Siege sequel.
 
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