Steve Buscemi found Death of Stalin less daunting without Russian accent

***image_caption***

Steve Buscemi found 'Death of Stalin' "less daunting" when he knew he didn't have to put on a Russian accent.

The 60-year-old actor portrays Soviet statesmen Nikita Khrushchev in the satirical comedy by Armando Iannucci, and although the movie focuses on the final days of Joseph Stalin's dictatorship and the chaos that ensued after his death, none of the cast were required to act in a Russian accent.

And Buscemi - who has starred in a number of films including 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Reservoir Dogs' - was relieved when he found out he could speak in his own voice.

He told Variety: "Once I knew we could speak in our voice, it was less daunting.

"It was actually written into the script. There was a note in the beginning of the screenplay just saying that the actors would not be required to do any accents."

The film is an adaptation of a graphic novel of the same name and also stars Jason Isaac, Jeffrey Tambor and Monty Python legend Michael Palin.

And although have a stellar cast of comedians, Buscemi was worried about constantly laughing and ruining takes while shooting the picture.

He said: "I was definitely worried about that. Once we had got what he needed out of the scene, he would often let us play around or surprise each other or talk over each other.

"The talking over each other was a general note that he had, he wanted it to feel like we were all trying to get our voice heard."

Although the film - which won Best Comedy at the Rakuten Empire Awards 2018 - has been praised by fans and critics, it has been banned from cinemas in Russia, and Iannucci told BANG Showbiz he feels sad.

He said: "I feel sad really because, really do they still ban stuff today? Considering it's a film on digital format.

"So all it's done is give it a high profile in Eastern Europe and it's doing an astonishing business in the Ukraine and I hope we will get it into cinemas because that's where it's meant to be seen.

"Russians who have seen it loved it."