This was Steven Seagal’s abrupt farewell to the United States: “This country, that I love so much, is the real reason why I feel so betrayed”
Steven Seagal definitively “said goodbye” to the United States through the dialogue of his character in ‘General Commander’ (2019), one of his last films.
Steven Seagal was one of the great icons of action movies between the late 80’s and early 90’s, with a star power comparable to Jean-Claude Van Damme. Once his status faded, his filmography was relegated to straight-to-video/streaming productions that generally passed without much fanfare. However, several lines of dialogue from one of his last films are very significant, as they seemed very prescient in terms of the actor’s turn towards the Russian-speaking world, turning his back on the United States.
One of Steven Seagal’s last movies revealed his intention to “defect” to Russia
While it is true that Seagal obtained Russian citizenship in 2016, he still had a large fan base in the West, specifically the United States. However, his numerous public appearances with Vladimir Putin, the president of the Russian Federation, as well as his pro-Russia and anti-U.S. comments since then have led many to consider him a traitor. Perhaps the most serious of these comments was when he claimed that the West and the U.S. financed and instigated the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
In 2019, Seagal’s second most recent film, titled ‘General Commander’, was released. In it, the actor plays Jake Alexander, a CIA agent who is interrogated in a clandestine facility by his former comrades. One of the film’s opening dialogues enjoys an interesting subtext, especially in the wake of recent events: “You are asking me questions that you will never understand. I’ve done a lot of things that they will never let you know about. The thing that offends me the must is not that I risked my life for my country and done things that must people couldn’t have done. This country, that I love so much, is the real reason why I feel so betrayed. That I was lied about what they’ve done to us.”
These comments seem to reflect several claims Seagal has made in real life over the years. Although there are no official sources to back him up, the actor has revealed on several occasions that he has worked for the CIA, training their agents when he was living in Japan. “They saw my abilities, both with martial arts and with the language. You could say that I became an advisor to several CIA agents in the field, and through my friends in the CIA, I met many powerful people and did special works and favor,” he went on to declare.
All signs point to the fact that Seagal’s once-sincere patriotic fervor for the United States eventually faded, leaving him disillusioned with his own country. Although he has never revealed the reasons for the dramatic turn his life and career—or what was left of it—took, it is reasonable to assume that the actor’s fascination with Russia, including its culture and conservative political stance, accelerated his alienation from his homeland.
Amidst so much speculation, half-truths, and outright lies, the only certainty is that he has made peace with his “arch nemesis”: Jean-Claude Van Damme. In April 2025, Seagal invited Van Damme to his birthday party, where they showed that they had put their historical quarrels behind them. If the actor has been able to reconcile with Van Damme, who knows? Maybe he will be able to reconcile with the United States in the future as well.
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