John Leguizamo was influenced by “horrible human” Steven Seagal for ‘The Menu’

John Leguizamo, the actor made famous by Spawn and Moulin Rouge!, has revealed that he based his character in the new Mark Mylod movie The Menu on the “horrible human” Steven Seagal.

Telling the story of a high-class restaurant with pretentious food, Leguizamo stars as an unnamed washed-up actor attempting to become a TV presenter in the new social satire. Featuring alongside Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicholas Hoult and Hong Chau, Leguizamo has helped the low-budget movie become a significant critical and commercial sensation.

When speaking to EW about the inspiration behind his character, however, Leguizamo threw shade over the influential action star Steven Seagal, stating, “I’ve met lots of these stars like that, maybe before they were washed-up…I mean, now they’re washed-up”. 

Continuing, the actor adds, “I kind of based mine on Steven Seagal. I had a bad run-in with him. We did a movie together. It was Executive Decision. He’s kind of a horrible human”.

He first spoke out about the actor earlier this year when he criticised Seagal for his attitude back in 1996 on the set of the aforementioned movie, directed by Stuart Baird and co-starring Kurt Russell and Halle Berry. Speaking to The New York Post, the actor recalled, “Yeah, I did not have a good time with Steven Seagal…No one has”.

Thankfully for Leguizamo, The Menu has been receiving far more love than Executive Decision, with our review of the movie reading, “The Menu is an absolute must-watch for those utterly exasperated with the forever onslaught of below-par Netflix-funded pictures and those who are just slightly peckish for a snappy and intelligent mystery thriller too”.

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