Andrew Davis on the 30th anniversary of "The Fugitive" and Steven Seagal
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the premiere of "The Fugitive," Andrew Davis, the director of this box office hit, gave an interview in which he shared his memories associated with Steven Seagal. Davis, who gained worldwide fame thanks to the movie "Above the law," jump-started Seagal's career, known as the "guy with the ponytail."
1 July 2024 17:43
"The Fugitive," with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor), became one of the most influential films of the '90s. The adaptation of the popular series about a doctor wrongly accused of murdering his wife is still considered a model action film. "The Fugitive" received seven Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Cinematography, and Music.
The conversation with Andrew Davis on the 30th anniversary of "The Fugitive" revealed many interesting facts from the film set. The director mentioned that he received the offer to direct thanks to the success of "Under Siege," starring Steven Seagal. When asked about working with Seagal, Davis replied, "He was a pain in the neck."
Davis recalled his experiences with Seagal while working on "Above the Law": "I had a meeting with Warner Bros., and they said: 'We want you to meet this guy, Steven Seagal. I was like, 'Who is Steven Seagal?'" Davis then met with the man himself. "[H]e said, 'I saw Code of Silence and I want you to direct my movie.' I went, 'Well… can you act?' Above the Law came out and Steven became a big star overnight. He didn't look like anyone else with that ponytail and the aikido moves. It really launched him," he recalled.
"He was a pain in the neck. He had become arrogant. Tommy Lee [Jones] is actually in a lot more of Under Siege than Steven Seagal! But it all worked out: Under Siege became Seagal's biggest movie, and it got me The Fugitive.," Davis recalls.
The 76-year-old director has several more box office hits to his name, such as "A Perfect Murder" with Michael Douglas, "Collateral Damage" with Arnold Schwarzenegger, and "The Guardian" with Kevin Costner. On the other hand, Steven Seagal starred in increasingly less successful productions, which mainly went to the home video market.
