Steven Seagal shows eccentric side in bizarre interview
It was one of the strangest interviews this scribe has done in nearly 20 years of journalism as mid-interview a young Russian woman scratched Steve Seagal’s right shoulder in a spot he clearly couldn’t reach, writes Jonathon Moran.
Having spent 10 minutes and 50 seconds with Steven Seagal, I can’t imagine passing an entire evening with the Hollywood martial arts legend.
Shuffling in to Confidential’s chat wearing camel-coloured boots, jeans and a black Chinese Kung Fu top, the 66 year-old is in town for a series of talks titled An Evening With Steven Seagal.
Speaking with his soft voice, so soft it is hard to hear, Seagal explains that he travels with a small block that he uses to punch and kick to practice martial arts daily.
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“I am an old man and I am still as fast as I ever was and probably hit harder than I ever did,” he said.
Moments into the interview, he signalled a young Russian woman to scratch his right shoulder in a spot he clearly couldn’t reach. She appeared to be a masseuse and there was a smell of Deep Heat as if his shoulder was a trouble area.
A muscled security guy stood nearby. Perhaps the security is due to his role as a diplomat — he was appointed Russia’s special envoy to the United States in August after being granted Russian citizenship in 2016 — and he counts Russian President Vladimir Putin as a friend.
It was one of the strangest interviews this scribe has done in nearly 20 years of journalism.
Questions about allegations of sexual harassment and abuse were off limits, with his representatives saying he had been cleared of any wrongdoing after being accused by multiple women since 1996.
“I am just at that kind of tipping point of what I am going to do,” Seagal says when asked his plans for the future. “I will be continuing my diplomatic work, doing music, I will be writing movies, whether I will make movies as an actor or not is really what I am asking myself.
Working as special envoy to the US is “a full time job in the sense that I will always be doing anything and everything that I can to get both parties to have more and more opportunity for meaningful discussions”.
“The Cold War right now is worse than it was in the 50s and 60s. Everyone is playing with fire now because of nuclear power. I love Russia and I love America and I have always tried hard to bring those two countries together.”
Seagal wouldn’t say if he had President Vladimir Putin’s mobile number in his phone, only indicating: “He is my friend”.
“I do think there is a tremendous amount of money and effort spent in propaganda to give the wrong impression of him,” Seagal says. “Every country is engaged in espionage and spying and propaganda, whether they admit to it or not. That is part of the game.”
United States President Donald Trump, he said, is an acquaintance.
“I don’t know if I could call him a friend but he is an acquaintance. I think that he is doing a lot of great things for America and I think that he has a very, very difficult job to do,” he says in a line eerily reminiscent of the orange President.
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