John Leguizamo Says His Character in THE MENU Was Based on Steven Seagal, "A Horrible Human"

First of all, if you haven’t seen The Menu yet, it’s a great film that you should go out and see! Ralph Fiennes gives a perfect performance and he deserves all of the awards! The film has an incredible cast and they all play fascinating characters.

John Leguizamo also stars in the movie and he plays a character who’s an actor character named George Diaz. He’s an action star, who is past his prime, and Leguizamo’s inspiration for the character is Steven Seagal, who he calls a “horrible human.”

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Leguizamo said: “I’ve met lots of these stars like that, maybe before they were washed up. I mean, now they’re washed up. 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.”

Executive Decision was released back 1996, and it was directed by Stuart Baird, and it also starred Kurt Russell and Halle Berry. It wasn’t that good and it earned Seagal a Razzie Award in the Worst Supporting Actor category.

It obviously wasn’t the best experience of Leguizamo. But his experience making The Menu was a great one! When talking about working with director Mark Mylod he said: “He’ll give you these perfect little notes that fine-tune your performance to give him what he needs. Yeah, it was a great experience. That’s why I think Succession is such a great success and such a great piece of work, because of him.”

In the movie, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult star as a couple who travel to a coastal island getaway to eat at an exclusive restaurant where its acclaimed chef has prepared a lavish tasting menu, with some shocking surprises.