Seagal has acted in some very high-grossing films and was once one of the biggest action stars around, only to fade into relative obscurity. So what happened? And what does he look like now?

Here’s all you need to know about Steven Seagal!

Steven Seagal became an adult very quickly, leaving his home country before his 18th birthday. Since then, the  6ft 4 actor, musician, and cop(!) has done it all, becoming a film star as well as a martial arts master.

But though it might seem like Seagal’s life has only been one of happiness and prosperity, he has endured several rough periods as well. Today, he might look pretty unfamiliar to you.

Here’s all you need to know about Steven Seagal, 71, – and why he’s gone from the spotlight.

Steven Seagal was born on April 10, 1952, in Lansing, Michigan. His mother, Patricia, worked as a medical technician and his father, Samuel, was a high school mathematics teacher.

Steven Seagal – early life

At a young age, Seagal was very interested in music. He oftentimes listened to the blues, which would influence him all his life.

“I got my first guitar when I was 12,” he explained. “The blues got into my blood, you know. I started to imitate them and tried to learn from them.”

Not only was Seagal interested in the art of music, but he was also very interested in martial arts, and it was actually a lie that first took him down the path of karate.

At the age of 5, his family moved to Fullerton, California. Now, Steven Seagal had asthma and was very frail as a child.

“He was a puny kid back then. But he really thrived after the move,” his mom told People of her son’s childhood.

Seagal reportedly lied about his age to get a job as a dishwasher at a restaurant. The chef, who knew karate, thought Seagal was very swift on his feet and decided to teach him.

Following studies at the local high school, Seagal decided to leave the US at the age of 17. He moved to Japan in 1968 to teach English and further practice martial arts.

Seagal became a devout student of martial arts, educating himself each day. He stayed in Japan for 15 years, and by the end of his stint had become a very well-respected figure in the field.

Steven Seagal – martial arts

Seagal steadily transformed into something of a celebrity, appearing in many martial arts magazines. Furthermore, he became the only Westerner at the time to operate his own dojo – a “school for training in various arts of self-defense” – in Japan.

Seagal perfected his martial arts and earned black belts in karate, judo, kendo, and aikido.

In the beginning, however, Seagal had a tough time being a Westerner who had moved to Japan to learn martial arts. Seagal explained that many Westerners thought you just could pay someone to learn a few moves and then go back to America to teach what you’d learned.

But it wasn’t that easy.

“You have to understand that the way to enlightenment is through deprivation. They create an environment where you’re not getting any approval for all the work you’re putting in,” Seagal told the Los Angeles Times in 1986. “You’re not getting any sleep or love or attention, you’re getting your butt kicked and you’re up before anyone fixing meals and cleaning.”

“They push you to your limit and when you are so deprived and so hungry for everything, a little window opens up in your mind that when they do give you something you’re going to get it, understand it, appreciate it, and you’ll understand some of the mystical deeper meaning that starts to become available to you.”

Entering show business

“The martial arts have to be an endeavor in which you’re trying to develop the physical man and perfect the spiritual self at the same time,” he added. “If that you’re doing is devoid of the spiritual essence, i’s nothing but street fighting.”

Seagal stayed in Japan for 15 years before moving back to the US in 1984. He opened up his own dojo there alongside stuntman Craig Dunn.

At first, he was shocked by the fact that teachers in the US were teaching a “fast-food approach” to martial arts. He even criticized the films of legendary actor Chuck Norris because of his martial arts skills.

Seagal decided to do something about it, and started teaching martial arts on his own. After a while, he decided to leave New Mexico for Los Angeles to pursue the dream of becoming an actor.

Alongside a senior student, Haruo Matsouka, who he brought with him from Japan, Seagal opened up an Aikido dojo in West Hollywood. At the same time, he worked as a martial arts coordinator.

The martial arts master worked on films such as The Challenge (1982), starring Scott Glenn, and the James Bond film Never Say Never Again (1983) with Sean Connery.