The obnoxious movie character based on Steven Seagal: “Because I hate him”

Posted On February 5, 2025February 5, 2025

It would be so easy to make fun of Steven Seagal if he wasn’t such a genuinely awful person. Everything from his ridiculous fight sequences to his doomed musical career to his ridiculous beard is hilarious, but things get decided less humorous when you read about the numerous sexual harassment accusations he’s faced over the years. He’s also a big fan of Vladimir Putin and was even granted Russian citizenship in 2016. People like that aren’t even worth making jokes about.

It isn’t just film nerds on the internet that have bad things to say about Seagal, as many of his co-stars have had less-than-pleasant things to say about him. One of them is John Leguizamo, who’s worked with the action star on two films, Out for Justice and Executive Decision. The Colombia-born actor has so much resentment towards Seagal that he used him as the basis for George Diaz, his character in 2022’s The Menu.

Diaz is a faded action movie hero still attempting to cling to relevancy. This is in sharp contrast to how Daniel Radcliffe (who was originally envisioned for the role) would have done it, as he was going to play an amplified version of himself. “I wouldn’t have done it as myself,” Leguizamo told Comic Book. “What am I, going to spoof myself like I’m a failed actor? Hell, no. I wouldn’t have done that. I used Steven Seagal because I hate him.”

“He beat me up once on a rehearsal; he’s a bully,” the actor continued, referring to an incident on the set of Executive Decision. “So I was playing a washed-up action star, so I thought he was perfect for it.” By the time The Menu had come out, Seagal hadn’t appeared in a film for three years and his reputation had been thoroughly torn to pieces through years of allegations and anecdotes from those who had worked with him. Leguizamo couldn’t have asked for a better person to base this horrible character on.

In the film, Diaz – who is labelled as simply ‘movie star’ in the credits – is one of many guests attending an evening at the prestigious and mysterious Hawthorn restaurant. Whilst the movie centres on Margot Mills (Anya Taylor-Joy) and her food-obsessed date (Nicholas Hoult), Leguizamo and his long-suffering secretary Felicity (Aimee Carrero) get given a decent chance to shine. His character meets the same gristly fate as everyone else; turned into a human s’more by deranged chef Julian Slowik (Ralph Fiennes) during the movie’s epic climax. One can only imagine how many times Leguizamo envisioned doing the same thing to Seagal during the height of their feud.

Whilst Leguizamo looks set to continue his great run of form with an appearance in Christopher Nolan’s next movie, the same cannot be said for his hated rival. Seagal isn’t seen much these days, but he did resurface in May 2024 at Putin’s re-inauguration ceremony as President of Russia. In January 2025, Saturday Night Live put out a trailer announcing the return of Dave Chappelle as host. In it, they took a shot at Seagal; a reference to his diabolical appearance on the show in 1991. 

If you feel even the slightest shred of sympathy for Seagal, just go on his Wikipedia page and look at the ‘Controversies’ section. That sympathy will soon disappear.

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