Interview: Steve Buscemi on new film 'The Listener,' working with Coen brothers, Tarantino

Steve Buscemi at Sarasota Film Festival: The actor will introduce a free outdoor screening of the 1998 comedy cult classic "The Big Lebowski" that he co-stars in. 8 p.m. Friday; Civic Green Lawns, just north of Sarasota Municipal Auditorium, 801 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota; free. Then his latest directorial effort "The Listener" will screen as the festival's closing night film, with Buscemi attending and participating in a Q&A. 6:30 p.m. Saturday; Regal Hollywood, 1993 Main St., Sarasota; $50. 941-364-9514; sarasotafilmfestival.com

Steve Buscemi is one of Sarasota Film Festival's most frequent celebrity guests, attending four consecutive years from 2007 to 2010. Now, nearly 15 years later, he'll be making a return appearance.

"The Listener," directed by Buscemi, will serve as the closing night film of this year's 26th annual festival, with Buscemi also set to attend the screening Saturday. Written by Alessandro Camon, who previously earned a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination for co-writing the 2009 film "The Messenger" that Buscemi acted in, "The Listener" follows helpline volunteer Beth (Tessa Thompson) as she answers calls voiced by actors including Rebecca Hall, Alia Shawkat and Jamie Hector. Buscemi will also introduce a free outdoor screening Friday of the 1998 comedy cult classic "The Big Lebowski," which he co-stars in.

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Buscemi's acting roles include multiple collaborations with the Coen brothers ("The Big Lebowski," "Fargo," "Miller's Crossing," "Barton Fink," "The Hudsucker Proxy") and Quentin Tarantino ("Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction"), as well as both blockbusters ("Con Air," "Armageddon") and indies ("Mystery Train," a Golden Globe-nominated turn in "Ghost World.") He made his directorial feature debut with 1996's Independent Spirit Award-nominated "Trees Lounge," also writing and starring in the film as an unemployed mechanic and regular at the titular bar. He's also acted in and/or directed episodes of TV shows such as "The Sopranos," "Boardwalk Empire," "30 Rock" and "Portlandia."

In an April 4 telephone interview with the Herald-Tribune, Buscemi talked about making "The Listener," working with the Coen brothers and Tarantino, and appearing in one of the final "Curb Your Enthusiasm" episodes. Here are excerpts, edited for brevity and clarity.

You've attended Sarasota Film Festival multiple times now. Can you talk about your experience with the festival, and the importance of festivals like it for independent film?

Well, a lot of times with these independent films that are hard to get distribution if they don’t have a big marketing push, sometimes the only way for people to see these films in a theater is these festivals. Sarasota, I think, always has championed independent film, and has been a big supporter of independent film and documentaries. So I think it is important that these festivals are supported themselves, because I think they’re doing a great service for the community, for film lovers and especially for people who are discovering film or who are looking outside the box for different kinds of films. Maybe they’re not even looking, but they read about something that catches their interest and they check it out and it changes their perspective.

What attracted you to "The Listener," besides getting to work again with Alessandro Camon after “The Messenger”?

It was just such a well-written piece. Coming out of the lockdown, of the pandemic, which truly was a shared experience — it’s very rare, I think, that the whole country and practically the whole world had this shared experience of being isolated and disconnected. And so I think, even though the film does address the pandemic a little bit with what some of the characters are talking about, these mental health issues and issues of loneliness and feeling disconnected have been going on for a long time. But I think what the lockdown did was that it put everybody in the same boat; everybody I think was feeling that to some degree.

When I read the script, I was just so enamored of the character of Beth, played by Tessa Thompson, that she chooses to do this work. One thing that came out of the pandemic is a new appreciation for people on the front lines and essential workers, and I do see Beth as an essential worker. She chooses to work the night shift because that’s when most of the calls are coming in. When it’s the middle of the night and you don’t have somebody that you’re living with that you can talk with or be comforted by — or even if you do, maybe that’s part of the problem — that a person is just a phone call away that will literally listen to you just talk about what you’re going through. She’s there to help if she can as well, but most people, they just want to talk. And I think for both sides, it’s a really beautiful thing — I think it takes a lot of bravery to make that call, and I also think what the character of Beth is doing is heroic, that she’s able to navigate all of these calls.

What was the process of directing a film where, besides Tessa Thompson, we don't see any of the actors onscreen?

As much as we could, we tried to have the actors on set — either on the phone like in another area, and that worked sometimes, but sometimes it was just as easy just to have the actor in the next room. But when we didn’t have the actor there, because some of the actors lived in New York and we had a couple parts that weren’t cast, we had a male reader and a female reader on set, off-camera. Then we had the actors that we cast do their roles later. So either Tessa was really responding to an actor that was in the room, or that the actor that we cast later was totally working off of Tessa’s performance.

When I watch the film, it’s hard for me to tell; I think Tessa just did such an amazing job of being the only one onscreen. If it was daunting to her, she didn’t show it. I’m still just amazed by how much she was able to do — just number one, all the lines that she had to memorize, but then I think what she did so beautifully was you see how the phone calls affect her, but it’s not reflected in her voice most of the time when she’s dealing with the caller. I think that is a real testament to her as an actor, and it really shows what these helpline workers do. They’re human beings; they have to be, to some degree, affected by what they’re hearing, but they can’t get too caught up in it. So it’s a very tricky thing that they do.

We’re nearing the 30th anniversary of “Trees Lounge,” your directorial feature debut. What was that experience like making that movie, and how you think your directing has changed since then?

Every time I do it, there’s a certain amount of anxiety that I have to manage, but on “Trees Lounge,” it was off the charts. It was a very personal story and in some ways, at the time I didn’t realize it, but it was dealing also with mental health. The character that I played was a very sort of depressed character but didn’t really know it himself, was obviously self-medicating a lot in his favorite hangout. But I think since then, I’ve come to realize that you don’t make a film alone, it is a collaboration and people are there to help. The more that I let people do that, the better I get. The more people feel that they are contributing, even if their ideas aren’t used, they’re at least heard. I think that’s the best thing for a director, is to have the actors and the crew all really wanting to be there and all wanting to make it the best that they can, and to allow that to happen, to create an atmosphere on set where that can flourish. I think I hadn’t really learned that on “Trees Lounge” — I mean, I sort of knew it just from working with some of the directors that I’ve worked with over the years, but to put it into practice is another thing.

Ethan Coen's first narrative feature as a solo director, "Drive-Away Dolls," just came out recently, and Joel Coen's "The Tragedy of Macbeth" before that. Some people who've watched both films have said you could tell their different personalities in each. As someone who worked with the Coen brothers often, what did you find them to be like?

I don't know that I saw them as two different personalities; it was working with two brothers that were just so in sync. That's what always impressed me, was how well they got along and how in sync they were, and how they complemented each other so much, and how much they both enjoyed the process of making films. Sometimes during a scene I would hear either one of them laughing off-camera and I could never quite tell, is that Joel or is that Ethan? I love that they're both exploring work on their own now, and I think they are writing something together again. So I think it's a very healthy thing that they're doing, and I always love to see whatever work that they do, either together or separately.

Quentin Tarantino is also working on what's supposedly his final film, "The Movie Critic." As someone who was in his very first feature, "Reservoir Dogs," what was that experience like?

Well, the amazing thing about Quentin was that even on the first film, he had such confidence in himself and in what he was doing, and what he had written and how he wanted to direct it. He had camera moves written into the script, and then he stuck by it when he shot the film. And his enthusiasm for working with everybody — we had two weeks of rehearsal before we even started to shoot. I just knew that he was going to be a successful director, and I mean successful on his own terms. Because I mean, look, in every film, there's always I think compromises that a director makes along the way — you run out of time during the day, or you have to cut something, or you have to do things a little bit differently than you had planned. But Quentin, he was so true to himself and to what he had written, and really fought for that. He just knew what he wanted, and it was really joyful to work with someone that was so enthusiastic and confident about what they were doing.

I was pleasantly surprised recently to see you on “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” What was it like appearing on that show, especially so close to the series’ end?

It was just a dream come true. That was such a surreal experience, after watching something for the past 20 years and then being dropped into it, with not only Larry David but with Richard Lewis, who I love. I’m so honored that I got to work with them both. At the same time, I was determined, I’m not going to let my nervousness take away the pleasure of doing this. And it didn’t, I was just very excited to be working with them. Everybody was so nice and so supportive. It was just one of the most fun days I’ve had on a set.

Email entertainment reporter Jimmy Geurts at jimmy.geurts@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism by subscribing.