"Park Bench" show features Steve Buscemi interviewing Rosie Pere

There's something about sitting on a park bench that is conducive to starting a conversation. Maybe it's the wide open spaces. Perhaps it's the fresh air. Or maybe it's just the relaxing environment of a vibrant green park on a bright sunny day that helps people let their guard down and participate in an engaging dialogue.

Who knows exactly what it is.

But one person who recognizes this power in a park bench is the famous actor Steve Buscemi. "Park Bench" is the title of the sort-of-talk show he started and eventually sold to AOL for its "Original" video channel.

The idea for the series is simple. Buscemi gets involved in an intimate conversation with people from all walks of life while sitting on a park bench. Those subjects include not just fellow actors and politicians as expected, but also regular people from regular walks of life.

He got the idea for the series one day when he shot a sketch on a park bench for a show called Vampire Weekend. For the scene, they needed another person. Buscemi just pulled a guy out of a bar and asked him to sit down. The result was a fascinating dialogue between two people.

"So later, we're looking at everything. I just couldn't stop thinking about this guy and how much I just liked talking to him on the park bench. And I just wanted to work that way again. So we just came up with this idea to just do a whole series where we talk to people on a park bench," Buscemi said.

Brilliant concept. Something everybody can relate to. How many great conversations have people had on park benches?

Since the series started, Buscemi met with comedian Chris Rock, actress Rosie Perez, NYC Mayor Bill Di Blasio, former talk show host Dick Cavett, a Buddhist nun, Nicole Richie, actress Sarah Jessica Parker, rap group The Beastie Boys and dozens of others.

But it's not just celebs. Since a park bench knows no social boundaries, Buscemi also talks with passers-by and just regular New Yorkers. With his mellow demeanor, Buscemi is able to elicit some great exchanges with his guests.

It's all unscripted. Sort of a talk show that's not a talk show. (Similar to Jerry Seinfeld's "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.") There's no band, opening monologue or live audience. Just two people sitting down to talk - enjoying that unique moment that can only be found on a park bench.

The show later evolved to settings that weren't always a bench. Sometimes the conversations started in another laid back environment, a bar for example.

Actor sees potential in a park bench setting

"I find park benches very relaxing, and it's easy to talk to people when you're sitting in a relaxed atmosphere," the 57-year old actor said.

Buscemi's been around. He was born in Brooklyn. As a city dweller he knows the allure of park - how an open green space can serve as a refuge from all the concrete and asphalt.

He's played in dozens of movies and TV shows. That list includes Con Air, Armageddon, 30 Rock, The Big Lebowski, Fargo, Miami Vice, The Simpsons and The Sopranos to mention just a few of many. Probably one of his biggest roles was as Enoch "Nucky" Thompson, the lead character in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. He won a Golden Globe award for those performances.

Buscemi's bench series aired on AOL in 2014 and was very popular. Critics loved it.

In fact, the show earned him an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Short-Format Nonfiction Program.

Park managers and site managers might take another look at the park bench situation in their open spaces. Are there plenty of park benches available for people to sit on and talk? Are they in disrepair? Worn or dirty and therefore not inviting?

The celebrity world is a strange one. Sometimes actors and actresses must lead a hidden, cloistered life away from swarms adoring fans and pesky paparazzi approaching them wherever they go. Sometimes the celebrity status goes to their cranium and they consider themselves above all those adoring fans.

As a Hollywood heavyweight, Buscemi sees this. That's why he was inspired to bring his discussions with fellow celebrities back down to earth. He knew the best place to start was just a simple park bench.

To watch Buscemi's "Park Bench" series go here.