Steve Buscemi Returns To '30 Rock' To Direct & Guest Star In An Episode

Television

by Oliver Lyttelton
January 25, 2012 10:38 AM
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For all of Steve Buscemi's much-lauded Golden Globe-winning success on the small screen in the last few years, thanks to his starring role on "Boardwalk Empire," it's not been the only finger the veteran character actor has had in the television pie. In the last few years, he's also directed six episodes of Showtime's hit series "Nurse Jackie," and shown his comedic side with an occasional guest role on Tina Fey's consistently excellent "30 Rock."

And good news for fans of his downtrodden private eye Lenny Wosniak: the character will be returning to Rockefeller Center. According to EW, Buscemi will not only guest-star, but also direct an episode of the show set to air on February 16th. Creator/star Tina Fey tells the site that, "After [Alec Baldwin's character] Jack gets mugged, he tries to reach out to his connections on the police force, [saying,] ‘I know Commissioner Ray Kelly. We have a column in Irish Arguments Weekly, the only all-caps magazine. But he hasn’t gotten back to me on this.’ Jack wants [Buscemi's character] Len to help him form a private police force where the salary starts at $5 million, so the police have the same interest in protecting the rich.”

It's not the first time that Buscemi has directed for the series -- he also helmed the season three episode "Retreat To Go Forward" -- but it's the first time that he'll have directed himself. Presumably he's hoping to stretch his directorial muscles again ahead of his upcoming film version of William Burroughs' "Queer," penned by Oren Moverman and set to star Guy Pearce, Kelly Macdonald and Ben Foster. But either way, we're glad he's back behind the camera.