Steven Seagal Explains His 'Expendables' Avoidance

Steven Seagal will probably never become expendable. While this morning brought a new trailer for The Expendables 3 — the third installment of Sylvester Stallone's cavalcade of action all-stars — one big name remains absent from the ever-expanding roster. That's Seagal, who explains in a new interview that he isn't likely to ever show up for that group duty.

In a recent interview with The Big Issue, Seagal said he has never done an Expendables film because "I just didn't like some of the people involved." Pressed further, he said simply "Life is too short to work with funny people." Fair enough. Making a movie means buddying up to many different people, and if you really have a serious aversion to one (or more) then life sucks for a few months.

So, interest raised. Presumably he's not talking about people who are funny, like with jokes. And presumably he's talking about Sylvester Stallone, or a producer such as Avi Lerner. Asked for just a bit more info — specifically for some names — he said:

Of course [I won't name names]. There's good and bad people everywhere and a lot of people in The Expendables I like too. So it's okay.

Jason Statham and Jet Li are explicitly mentioned as people he does like, so scratch them off the list of possible "funny people." That leaves a lot of people still on the list, but that doesn't really matter. What does matter is that if you want to see more action work from Seagal you'll have to check out his solo films, and his blues guitar playing. Or buy Vern's book, and keep an eye out for the occasional Seagal revival festival if you're lucky enough to live near a theater that does that sort of thing.

Meanwhile, The Expendables 3, without Seagal, opens on August 15.