In the mid 90’s Seagal was typecast to play the same role in all of his movies; a brooding agent or tough cop. Another problem was that Steven became a slave to gluttony and seemed to be rather interested in eating every greasy or fried food he saw. I was sure that he must have gained close to 100 pounds of pure fat since the mid 90’s, because here are two photos of him from the 90’s to the early 2000’s.
Other than gaining a ton of weight, he also was a fucking asshole on set to everyone in his path. He injured a lot of stuntmen in a pathetically obnoxious way to show off how much of a martial artist he claimed to be. He would kick men in the groin, be overly rough to the point of injury, and also be an obnoxious bully on set. John Leguizamo mentioned in an interview that Steven went around and challenged anyone to a spar match (like Bruce Lee used to do). When Leguizamo laughed over how idiotic the entire gesture was, Seagal punched him in the gut, blowing all the wind out of Leguizamo.
The difference between Seagal and Bruce Lee was that Bruce Lee was respected by everyone who met him and could back up his claims of Martial Art integrity. Bruce Lee would never strike someone first or act like a bully, he only accepted spars with those who challenged him. Plus, Bruce Lee would train those opponents who he felt had potential. Seagal NEVER did anything like that. There are tons of video evidence of Bruce Lee’s fights and his awesome power. Where are the videos or documented evidence of Seagal’s battles? Oh yeah, they don’t exist.
Seagal also had alleged ties to the Mafia and they wanted to fund some of his action movies. Seagal was paid a visit by Mafioso and he was “petrified” and most likely shit his pants like he did when Judo Master Gene Lebell confronted him over his petulant behavior and put him into a Shime-Waza (sleeper hold) Seagal was knocked unconscious and reportedly soiled himself.
While Seagal still acts, most of his movies are direct to DVD crap, so he is officially a washed up actor. He also has a tendency to make up a lot of stories about his past which often times hold little plausibility.