John Leguizamo Based His The Menu Character on Steven Seagal

The last couple of years have been good to John Leguizamo. The John Wick and Encanto star showed up in a couple of low-budget hits — The Menu and Violent Night, both of which not only made money, but earned solid reviews and drew praise for Leguizamo’s work. He’s kicking off this year with Prime Video’s new series The Power, but The Menu is still looming large. Recently, it came out that Daniel Radcliffe almost played the role that eventually went to Leguizamo. Had Radcliffe done it, the idea was to play it as an over-the-top caricature of himself, presumably swapping out Leguizamo’s washed-up action star for a “former child star” model in Radcliffe’s case. 

Catching up with ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian, Leguizamo said that, unlike Radcliffe, he never planned to play the character as a version of himself. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t get a little inspiration from Hollywood.

“No, I wouldn’t have done it as myself,” Leguizamo said. “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.”

The bluntness clearly threw his Power co-star Toni Colette for a loop, as she immediately looked shocked and started to laugh. 

“He beat me up once on a rehearsal; he’s a bully,” Leguizamo added, addressing Colette directly. “So I was playing a washed-up action star, so I thought he was perfect for it.”

The pair starred together in Executive Decision back in 1996, along with X-Men star Halle Berry and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 3 baddie Kurt Russell.

Apparently, Seagal must know that Leguizamo is making comparisons to him in the press, because according to Leguizamo, the actor said he would punch him “if I was on a red carpet,” presumably meaning if he told the story on a red carpet. For her part, Colette offered that she can’t even picture Seagal, which she said is “the best revenge.”

The Power is set in a world much the same as ours, except for one twist of nature – suddenly, all teenage girls across the globe develop the ability to electrocute people through their fingertips thanks to an in-built, hereditary power that can’t be taken away from them.

You can see The Power on Prime Video, and The Menu is currently streaming on HBO Max.