Steven Seagal Had To Be Convinced To Kill A Serial Killer Villain In A Movie
Steven Seagal's Buddhist beliefs stopped him from pretending to kill a villain in a movie.
Steven Seagal is probably best known for his roles in action movies such as Under Seige, Exit Wounds, and Hard to Kill, but in the 90s, he converted to Buddhism and became a professed pacifist — which doesn’t exactly mesh well with the kind of action films he was known for. According to The Goldbergs and Frog and Toad actor Stephen Tobolowsky, this led to an issue on the set of Glimmer Man, where Tobolowsky had to convince Seagal that killing his character (a serial killer known as “the Family Man”) was actually a good thing. He told Seagal that killing “the Family Man” would allow his character to be reincarnated into another body, giving him another chance at life.
Tobolowsky said that he made this argument on the first day of shooting, and it apparently worked. Not only did Steven Seagal kill Tobolowsky’s character halfway through the film, but he also killed another character, played by A Few Good Men actor John M. Jackson, in the film’s climax. Seagal then continued to help bad guys reincarnate throughout his film career.
The year after Glimmer Man was released, the story of Steven Seagal’s Buddhist beliefs took an unusual turn. Tibetan Buddhist leader Kyabjé Drubwang Padma Norbu Rinpoche formally recognized Seagal as the reincarnation of the “treasure revealer” Chungdrag Dorje.
This revelation led to speculation that Steven Seagal had given Rinpoche’s monastery a large donation, leading to this supposed recognition. Rinpoche denied this, saying that his recognition of Seagal was a result of his merits — though which merits he was referring to were never made clear. Rinpoche also went on to say that such reincarnations (or “tulkus”) are not considered fit to be teachers before taking a full course of training, which “reawakens the tulku’s powers of insight and compassion,” letting them become teachers.
Steven Seagal, now a Buddhist tulku, went on to promote a now-discontinued energy drink (Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt) and aftershave (Scent of Action). This paragon of peace also became a promoter of ORSIS, a Russian arms manufacturer. Now, with Seagal’s blessing, these arms are helping people reincarnate across the world.
Steven Seagal’s Hollywood career eventually evolved into a direct-to-video career, appearing in practically-unknown films such as Urban Justice, Into the Sun, and The Foreigner — none of which made it into theaters, and some of which are now viewable on the almost-forgotten streaming service Crackle. Later direct-to-video films, such as China Salesman and The Perfect Weapon, gave Seagal top billing, despite the fact that he only played minor roles in the movies.
These days, the reincarnated Buddhist turned arms dealer is helping train the Russian army. Steven Seagal is known to be a major supporter of Vladimir Putin, backing the annexation of Crimea — a stance that no doubt helped him receive Russia’s Order of Friendship award.
Supporting an accused war criminal hasn’t stopped him from continuing his acting career. He’s reportedly set to work on the films The Tip of the Spear and Above the Law 2 and was rumored to be appearing in The Expendables 4.
