Snake Plissken, the (anti-)hero of Escape from New York (1981) and Escape from L.A. (1996) is his favorite character of all he's played.
Started Cosmic Entertainment with partner Goldie Hawn, her daughter Kate Hudson, and her son Oliver Hudson in 2003.
The presence of Lee Van Cleef on the set of Escape from New York (1981) inspired him to talk in a raspy voice similar to Clint Eastwood's from the Man With No Name trilogy.
Was Sylvester Stallone's original choice for Church in The Expendables (2010), but he turned it down.
Was offered a role in The Fog (1980).
Was one of the first actors to do audio commentary on DVDs.
Was originally cast to play the cursed heroic knight Navarre in Ladyhawke (1985), while Rutger Hauer, who played the part of Navarre in the film, was the original choice to play the evil captain, even though Hauer had no interest in the part and was actually more interested in the part of the hero Navarre. When Russell dropped out of the project, Hauer took the role.
Was the best man at Ted Nugent's wedding.
When he and director John Carpenter were discussing the character of MacReady in The Thing (1982), they thought about making MacReady a former Vietnam chopper pilot who felt displaced by his service in the war and, as a result, was much more isolated than the other characters. This ultimately did not make it into the film.