In decades past, you had to come across as a total badass in order to headline an action movie. For proof of that, all you have to do is look at the fact that there are several forgotten action stars from the 90s who looked very intimidating on the big screen.

Due to the fact that special effects have become incredibly advanced over the decades, movies with a big budget can now completely transform how an actor looks. Despite that, the movie studios still tend to hire actors who look a certain way to star in their action movies. For example, Dwayne Johnson has a mind-boggling fitness regime because his massive physique has played a key role in his action movie stardom.

Since Dwayne Johnson has become the gold standard when it comes to massive movie stars, Steve Buscemi has got to be his polar opposite. After all, Buscemi may be an amazing actor but he is the farthest thing from intimidating physically speaking. Despite that, Buscemi has been involved in a far more serious bar fight than pretty much every action star out there.

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A Memorable Fight

When most people are out in public and they come across a major celebrity, they tend to be overjoyed at the prospect of walking away with an autograph, photo, or story. Failing that, some people wouldn’t interact with the star for fear of bothering them but they still would likely have a skip in their step as they walk away. Unfortunately, there is a third category, people who resent the star’s presence for one reason or another.

In 2001, Steve Buscemi and Vince Vaughn went to a bar together in Wilmington, North Carolina, with Scott Rosenberg, the writer of movies like Venom, Con Air, and the Jumanji sequels. While Vaughn had yet to star in some of his most beloved films by that point, he’d already risen to fame as the star of movies like Swingers and The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Given how famous Vaughn was at the time and his boisterous ways, the people in most bar patrons likely would have been stoked to party with him. Unfortunately, that certainly wasn’t the case on that fateful 2001 night.

Given the fact that it would be years before Vince Vaughn met his wife, it was perfectly kosher for him to flirt with women at a bar in 2001. However, according to reports, Vaughn started chatting with the wrong woman as her boyfriend took offense to the conversation the movie star was having with his lady. While it is unclear if Vaughn potentially flirting with a woman started everything, court documents claim that insults started to get hurled at the famous actor.

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After Vince Vaughn exchanged words with a Wilmington man, they stepped outside and were followed by bar patrons who heard their argument. Given the fact that Vaughn was outnumbered by locals, Steve Buscemi and Scott Rosenberg went outside to have Vince’s back. On the bright side, Vaughn and the man he was arguing with quickly patched things up. Sadly, when things seemed to be calming down, a random patron allegedly attacked Steve Buscemi.

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Serious Repercussions

Throughout Hollywood, history, there have been many reports of actor feuds that became all too real. As a result, from the outside looking in, it has always seemed like most friendships among famous actors were transactional. When it comes to Steve Buscemi, however, all of his friends had to know that he is a true friend after he backed up Vince Vaughn during the aforementioned 2001 bar fight. After all, even though Vaughn walked away from the fight incident scot-free, Buscemi came remarkably close to losing his life.

Following the aforementioned 2001 incident, a man named Timothy William Fogerty was charged with assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. The reason for the serious charges is that Fogerty was among the bar patrons spoiling for a fight following Vince Vaughn’s verbal altercation with a local man according to court documents. Once cooler heads prevailed, an unprovoked Fogerty allegedly stepped out of the crowd to attack Steve Buscemi as he stood by to support Vaughn. Fogerty then proceeded to stab Buscemi above his eye, and in his jaw, throat, and arm if the charges against him were accurate. Of course, Steve was able to recover but contemporaneous reports said Buscemi’s injuries “could have been life-threatening”.

After allegedly attacking Steve Buscemi with a weapon, Timothy William Fogerty who was 21 at the time wound up in court. While the intent to kill portion of his charges had been dropped, Fogerty was still accused of some very serious crimes. After Fogerty pleaded guilty, he was sentenced to 25 months behind bars. However, all but 180 days of Fogerty’s sentence were suspended. In addition to Fogerty’s prison sentence, he was ordered to spend three years under supervised probation.

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