All The Weird Jobs Steven Seagal Has Had Or Claimed To Have Had

If you only know Steven Seagal as the ponytailed guy snapping wrists in early-’90s action movies, you’re missing the wildest part of his story: his résumé. Over the decades, Seagal has described himself not just as an actor and martial artist, but as a CIA adviser, blues musician, spiritual leader, energy drink mogul, samurai sword expert, and real-life cop. Some of those roles are documented, some are disputed, and a few live in that hazy space where myth and marketing hold hands and stroll off into the sunset.

This deep dive rounds up the strangest jobs Steven Seagal has actually hador says he’s hadand looks at how they built the bizarre legend behind the man. Buckle up; this thing has more side quests than a 100-hour RPG.

From Dojo Kid to “Man of Many Jobs”

Before the black trench coats and glowering close-ups, Seagal really did have a straightforward profession: aikido instructor. He moved to Japan as a young man, trained in aikido, and eventually helped run and then operate dojos both there and in the United States. With that came a few side roles that would follow him for the rest of his life: interpreter, cultural go-between, and self-appointed man of mystery.

From there, the story fractures into two timelines: the verifiable work Seagal has done, and the more questionable claims that appeared in interviews, biographies, and late-night talk show chatter.

Jobs Steven Seagal Has Actually Done (That Are Still Pretty Weird)

1. Aikido Instructor and Dojo Owner

Let’s start with the normal-ish part. Seagal is a 7th-dan black belt in aikido and began his adult life teaching martial arts in Japan, later opening dojos in New Mexico and California. He’s widely reported as the first non-Japanese person to operate an aikido dojo in Japan, which already makes his origin story more unusual than your average Hollywood star’s retail-job-plus-auditions grind.

This early dojo work laid the foundation for almost every other job on his list: it’s how he met wealthy students, Hollywood agents, stunt coordinators, and the people who helped push him into the movie business.

2. Hollywood Action Star and Fight Coordinator

Okay, “actor” isn’t a weird job on its ownbut Seagal’s path into movies is. Before Above the Law turned him into an action star in 1988, he worked behind the scenes as a fight coordinator on films like The Challenge and Never Say Never Again. His martial arts demos impressed powerful people in Hollywood, including agent Michael Ovitz, who reportedly helped launch his acting career after training with him.

So yes, Seagal really did go from dojo owner to movie star in a way that sounds like a studio executive’s dare: “Bet you can’t turn your aikido instructor into the next big thing.”

3. Reserve Deputy Sheriff and Reality-TV “Lawman”

One of the most eyebrow-raising real jobs on Seagal’s résumé is “reserve deputy sheriff.” He served as a reserve officer with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana, later appearing on the reality series Steven Seagal: Lawman, which followed him on ride-alongs and arrests.

According to Seagal, he had been working with the department for about two decades, training officers in martial arts and helping on patrol. However, law-enforcement accrediting bodies have said there’s no record of him being a fully certified peace officer, and his rank as Reserve Deputy Chief has been described as largely ceremonial. Still, there’s documented footage of him in uniform making arrests on the show, which firmly pushes this job into the “strange but real” category.

4. Blues Musician and Touring Band Leader

Then there’s Seagal the musician. He has released blues-rock albums and performed live with the Steven Seagal Blues Band, promoting himself as a “true bluesman.” Reviews tend to describe his playing as more enthusiastic than masterful, but he’s kept at it for years, touring and incorporating music into his on-screen persona.

Is it a weird job? Maybe not by itself. But when you file “touring blues guitarist” next to “action star” and “reserve sheriff,” it starts to feel like he spun a giant career roulette wheel and just kept everything it landed on.

5. Energy Drink Mogul and Knife Salesman

In the mid-2000s, Seagal slapped his name on one of the most notorious celebrity beverages ever bottled: “Steven Seagal’s Lightning Bolt” energy drink. The brand marketed it as an “energy drink as unique as the man who created it,” with flavors like Cherry Charge and Asian Experience. The drink has long since disappeared from store shelves, but it lives on in online taste-test reviews that describe it with words like “thick,” “medicinal,” and “never again.”

Lightning Bolt wasn’t his only product line. Seagal has also lent his name to an aftershave called “Scent of Action” and a range of knives. If you ever wanted to smell like a late-night cable movie marathon while wielding a tactical blade, he had you covered.

6. Firearms Company Pitchman

In the 2010s, Seagal partnered with Russian firearms company ORSIS to promote its sporting rifles and lobby for easier import of Russian guns into the United States. This job combined several of his favorite themesguns, geopolitics, and being taken very seriouslywhile further cementing his off-screen image as a weapon-savvy tough guy.

7. Recognized Tibetan Buddhist Tulku (Spiritual Role)

One of the most surprising entries on Seagal’s list of roles is religious rather than professional. In 1997, Tibetan Buddhist leader Penor Rinpoche publicly recognized Steven Seagal as the reincarnation (tulku) of a 17th-century “treasure revealer” named Chungdrag Dorje. This recognition sparked debate in Buddhist circles about the commercialization of titles, and it remains controversial, but the enthronement ceremony really did happen.

So yes, at various points, Seagal has simultaneously been an action star, energy drink entrepreneur, reserve cop, and recognized Tibetan lama. That’s not a résumé; that’s a Mad Libs page someone refused to stop filling out.

Jobs Steven Seagal Has Claimed to Have Had

Now we get to the murkier territory: jobs Seagal has talked about in interviews that are either unproven, disputed, or flat-out contradicted by available evidence.

8. CIA Adviser and Covert Operative

One of Seagal’s favorite claims is that he advised or worked with the CIA while living in Japan. In interviews, he has said that his language skills and martial arts expertise led him to “become an advisor to several CIA agents in the field” and do “special works and favors” for them.

The problem? There’s no public evidence that he actually served as a CIA operative or contractor. His ex-wife Miyako Fujitani has openly refuted the claim, and journalists who have tried to verify it have come up empty. At this point, the “CIA background” feels more like a branding device that bled from his movie characters back into his personal mythology.

9. Celebrity Bodyguard to the Stars

Seagal has also described working as a bodyguard for high-profile people before his film career took off, including Hollywood clients connected to his wealthy aikido students. Various accounts and fan write-ups mention him providing protection for celebrities such as Kelly LeBrock and other entertainment figures.

This one is more plausible than the CIA stories: a physically imposing martial arts instructor with rich clients absolutely could have taken on private security gigs. Documentation is sparse, though, and some of the more dramatic taleslike facing down organized crime figures single-handedlyseem to live mostly in legend.

10. Samurai Sword Authenticator and Expert

A fan-favorite entry on his alleged job list is “samurai sword authenticator.” Entertainment site Ranker recounts stories of Seagal inviting people to his home in Sedona, Arizona, where he would show off a collection of swords and position himself as an authority on their authenticity and history.

To be fair, he does have a well-known passion for Japanese weapons and owns an extensive sword collection. But “unofficial sword guy with a lot of opinions” is slightly different from being a formally recognized expert. Still, it’s exactly the kind of job title that sounds just believable enough for Steven Seagal and just dramatic enough for late-night monologues.

11. Eternal Lawman: “Always” in the Sheriff’s Department

Ranker also pokes fun at Seagal’s insistence that he has essentially always been part of one sheriff’s department or another, even when public records don’t clearly back that up. While he has documented stints as a reserve deputy, claims of long-running, deep involvement sometimes collide with statements from departments clarifying that his roles were limited or largely honorary.

In other words, he really did wear the badgejust probably not in the “seasoned full-time street cop” way his stories sometimes imply.

Why Does Steven Seagal Have So Many Weird Jobs?

At some point, Seagal’s career stopped being a straight line and started looking like a conspiracy board: red string tugged between aikido, movies, policing, Buddhism, Russian guns, and energy drinks. Why?

Brand Building Through Myth-Making

Part of the answer lies in old-school action-star marketing. Before social media and 24/7 behind-the-scenes coverage, studios loved the idea of blurring the line between the hero on screen and the person in real life. In Seagal’s case, that meant promoting him not just as a guy playing a lethal operative, but as someone with a mysterious past that might, just might, be real. Articles from the late ’80s and early ’90s lean into his claims about CIA work and time in Japan without much skepticism.

Over time, that mystique hardened into part of his identity. Even when the claims were questioned or debunked, they had already done their job: make him seem more dangerous, more worldly, and more “authentic” than the average action hero.

Personal Interests Turned Side Hustles

Another factor is that Seagal clearly leans into whatever he’s obsessed with at the moment. He loves martial arts, so he opens dojos. He loves blues, so he tours with a band. He loves weapons, so he works with a firearms company and curates sword collections. He loves spiritual imagery, so he embraces the role of Tibetan tulku.

In a way, his résumé is what you get when a very famous person repeatedly asks, “What if I turned this hobby into a full-on persona?”and no one in the room says no.

What We Can Learn from Seagal’s Bizarre Résumé (Experience & Takeaways)

Spending time digging through all of Steven Seagal’s weird jobs feels a little like wandering through a late-night cable lineup: it’s entertaining, occasionally uncomfortable, and you’re never entirely sure what’s real. But there are a few useful lessons buried in all that chaos.

1. Verify the Story, Especially When It Sounds Epic

One of the most striking things about researching Seagal’s claims is how often a dramatic story gets repeated without proof. The CIA adviser narrative, for example, shows up in older newspaper profiles and fan sites, but when you check modern reporting and his ex-wife’s comments, there’s simply no evidence it happened the way he tells it.

That’s a great reminder for anyone reading celebrity biosor really any big, bold personal claim. If a story sounds like it was written by a screenwriter, it probably deserves a healthy dose of skepticism.

2. A “Weird” Career Can Still Be Very Real

On the flip side, some of Seagal’s oddest jobs are 100 percent real. He did serve as a reserve deputy, he did star in a reality show about it, and he really did get involved with an energy drink that reviewers still talk about in horrified tones decades later.

If anything, that shows how flexible modern careers can be. You might start as a martial arts instructor and end up juggling half a dozen wildly different roles over a lifetime. The line between “serious profession” and “side quest” is often thinner than it looks.

3. Image Management Never Stops

Another thing that stands out is how carefully Seagal’s jobs are woven into his image. The reserve-cop work reinforces his tough-guy persona. The blues band plays into the soulful loner vibe. The tulku recognition and Buddhist language feed into a spiritual warrior archetype. None of these roles exist in a vacuum; they’re all reinforcing a story about who he is.

Most of us don’t have film studios and PR teams behind us, but we still do a version of this online: we highlight certain jobs, skip others, and present a curated career path. Seagal is just doing it at action-movie volume.

4. It’s Okay to Be Fascinated and Critical at the Same Time

Finally, there’s the simple experience of reading about Steven Seagal: it’s fun. It’s also complicated. Some of his roles are silly; some are impressive; some are wrapped up in controversies and lawsuits; some have been strongly disputed by people who knew him. A responsible way to enjoy that story is to hold both sides at onceenjoy the spectacle, but also notice when the facts don’t line up.

In an age when every public figure seems to be building a myth about themselves, that balancing actcuriosity plus critical thinkingis a useful skill to practice.

Conclusion: The Oddly Perfectly Steven Seagal Résumé

When you put it all together, Steven Seagal’s work history looks like a mash-up of three different lives: disciplined martial arts teacher, meticulously marketed action hero, and restless side-hustler chasing new identities. Some of his jobs are well documented (aikido instructor, movie star, reserve deputy, energy drink frontman). Others are spiritual or symbolic (recognized tulku, sword “expert”). And a few live mostly in his own telling (CIA adviser, world-saving covert operative).

Is his résumé weird? Absolutely. Is it also a perfect snapshot of how celebrity, branding, and personal myth-making collide? Definitely. Whether you believe every claim or treat half of them as campfire stories, one thing’s for sure: nobody can accuse Steven Seagal of having a boring LinkedIn profile.