Seagal also worked as a bodyguard for Hollywood agent Michael Ovitz. He would become another very important person in Seagal’s life. Steven Seagal – biggest movies Ovitz – a big martial arts fan – was impressed with Seagal’s martial arts abilities and thought he would be great on-screen. He decided to personally pay for Seagal’s screen test with Warner Bros – and the executives were very impressed. On a deserted studio sound stage, Seagal displayed his aikido master skills. The studio heads could hardly believe what they were seeing. “The demonstration was quite miraculous,” Warner Bros. President Terry Semel told the Los Angeles Times in 1988. “With just a toss of his hand, Steven would send the other guy flying. I’m no martial-arts expert, but he had the ability to knock these guys up in the air so effortlessly–well, it was pretty astounding.” They thereafter signed Segal to his first film Above the Law. “Michael has been one of Steven’s major supporters,” Semel explained. “He went far beyond the role of just being Steven’s agent. In fact, with the type of superstar client list Michael has, you wouldn’t normally see him work so closely with a first-time actor.

“But he really believes Steven can be a star. Michael knew Steven from the world of martial arts, where Steven is apparently something of a celebrity. “So Michael has really gotten involved. He’d constantly say to me, ‘Think of this guy. Think of this guy.’” “Michael and I are very close–we love each other,” Seagal said. “I’m like a guru to him.” What is Steven Seagal doing today? Steven Seagal turned into a well-recognized action film star overnight. In the 1990s, he starred in films such as Under Siege (1992) and Under Seige 2 (1995), playing the role of the Navy Seals counter-terrorist expert Casey Ryback. The film grossed $160 million worldwide and made Steven Seagal an international star. He also went on to direct the 1993 film Deadly Ground, featuring legendary actor Michael Caine. However, the movie failed miserably, losing an estimated $50 million. To date, Steven Seagal has worked on more than 50 productions as an actor. Despite that, he’s never really cracked the top shelf of the Hollywood celebrity list. So what is he doing today? Well, it turns out that he isn’t living in the US anymore – but in Russia. According to News24, the US government is trying to collect $200,000 which the actor owes for “failing to disclose he was being paid to promote a digital token.” According to The Sun, Segal was granted Russian citizenship in November 2016. Two years later, the Russian foreign ministry gave him a job titled “special representative for Russian-US humanitarian ties”. The position is reportedly unpaid. Of course, Seagal is hardly short on money – his net worth is around $16 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.