Hilarious Fan Theory Suggests Steve Buscemi Plays The Same Character In ‘Billy Madison’, ‘Con-Air’, And ‘Big Lebowski’

steve buscemi in billy madison con air and big lebowski

Universal Pictures/Buena Vista Pictures/Gramercy Pictures


Nothing will occupy your time quite like a good movie theory, which is exactly what we’ve got here in this suggestion that Billy Madison, Con-Air, and The Big Lebowski all take place in the same universe and are connected by the characters played by beloved actor Steve Buscemi.

The short version of the theory is this: the apparent nut job that we see cross Billy Madison’s name off of his “People To Kill” list in Billy Madison, Buscemi’s Danny McGrath, then goes on to carry out those violent crimes and eventually gets caught, resulting in him being a prisoner in Con-Air.

After escaping from Con-Air, the theory suggests that the character took his winnings from Las Vegas and started a new life in Los Angeles, where he met The Dude and Walter.

Now, while most of this theory is largely eye-roll-worthy, this is the part of it I truly enjoyed and never actually noticed: Buscemi’s The Big Lebowski character Donny, who is “always out of his element,” is only seen wearing bowling shirts with others peoples names on them, which is certainly a strange detail.

Still, it’s hard to imagine that a cold-blooded serial killer would let Walter routinely abuse him the way he does.

Regardless of how you ultimately feel about the theory’s validity, the main takeaway that everyone should have after watching this video is an appreciation for both Buscemi’s acting range and his run of iconic movies in the 1990s.

Not only did he feature in the aforementioned trio of Billy Madison, Con-Air, and The Big Lebowski, but he also had roles in Airheads, Pulp Fiction, Desperado, Fargo, The Wedding Singer, Armageddon, and Big Daddy.