Steve Buscemi Says Everyone Has Been Pronouncing His Name Wrong, Including Himself

Sep 08, 2025 832

Do you know how to pronounce “Buscemi”? Probably not, says Steve Buscemi, who claims he’s also confused about how to pronounce his Italian surname. The Emmy award-winning actor, 67, appeared on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show on Wednesday and talked about his cameo on Seth Rogan’s new Apple TV+ series The Studio. In the show, the characters struggle to pronounce the Soprano star’s last name.

“At one point, they said ‘Brusch-kemi,’ like bruschetta,” Fallon recounted. “I don’t like that one,” Buscemi said. “Boo-shemi, I like that,” Buscemi retorted. “That is the Italian way to say it, but I just didn’t grow up that way.” Growing up, his family would pronounce it “Bue-semi,” though Buscemi dropped that pronunciation in favor of a combination of the Italian and Italian-American articulations: “boo-semi.” 

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SOURCE: https://www.thedailybeast.com/

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