Steven Seagal, the American actor whose career peaked in the 1990s with movies like "Under Siege" and whose specialty was portraying action figures who spoke softly but blew up buildings and assassinated bad guys, has taken on a new role off screen, that of a Russian citizenship with a passport President Putin's hands to prove it.
The actor sat across a table from the Russian leader in Moscow, his arms folded or, at times, his hands clasped in a gesture of thanks. After the Russian leader presented him with the document, Seagal signed it, in the presences of news outlets.
According to Russian news agency TASS, Putin told Seagal that the two would not "politicize" the event. But the Russian leader, who has said he hoped for better ties with the United States after the election of Donald J. Trump, was also quoted as telling Mr. Seagal: "I would like to congratulate you, and I also hope that this small step will mark the beginning of the gradual improvement in our interstate relations."
Seagal replied in Russian, "Thank you very much," according to TASS.
The 64-year-old actors, who was born in Michigan, followed the footsteps of another Western actor whose fame crested decades ago but who managed to emerge in the embrace of Russia: Gerard Depardieu. The French actor was given Russian citizenship in 2013 after renouncing his native citizenship in a protest over high taxes.
Seagal, whose movies are popular in Russia, has defended his forays into that country over the years, especially during times when relations between Washington and Moscow were frosty. Relations have been severely strained since Russia's annexation of Crimea. With the U.S. leading the charge, European allies impose sanctions against Russia.
The actor has been criticized for his seemingly warm relationship with Mr. Putin. In 2014, he said on his website that he had been misquoted in reports about his opinions on Mr. Putin, saying he had never called him the "world's greatest leader," but rather "ONE of the World's Great Leaders."
Seagal also has dozens of acting and directing credits to his name, and according to IMDb film site, he has several projects in the works for next year.
In one of his latest films, "Code of Honor," which was released this year and called "laughably awful", he plays a special-forces colonel who does the dirty work of many men by going after drug dealers and gang members as he avenges the fatal drive-by shooting of his wife and child.
"I still love my country, I still love my family, and I am still an honorable man," he says in a Southern drawl in a scene from the movie trailer, "If I am the bad guy, what does that make you?"
