Michael Madsen calls movies “pictures” and makes a new one every couple weeks. I happened to check his IMDB page recently, and I noticed something incredible: the man acted in 25 movies released this year. 25*! Sure, they all have dubious titles like You Might As Well Live, Lost in the Woods, and Road of No Return. Sure, Madsen mostly plays characters with names like “The Reverend,” “The Associate,” and “Clinton Manitoba.” But the sheer quantity of Madsen-imprinted cinema in 2009 deserves a special kind of acclaim.
Madsen is philosophical about his workaholic output. “I’m only good when I’m busy. When I’ve got nothing to do, I’m useless. I just go to Montana and sit on my front porch,” he told EW. They can’t all be classics, he explained: “You take the work where it comes. People tell you it’ll be the greatest piece of cinema, and then once you’re in it, you can’t escape. Then there are other times, it ends up being a diamond.”
And what diamonds! The cult of Michael Madsen began with his role as Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino’s endlessly influential debut. “Everyone told me not to do it. Quentin was a first-time director, all the characters were named after colors, and we all kill each other.”
A decade later, Madsen reunited with Tarantino for his finest role yet. “I’ll tell you a story**. Before Kill Bill, I was making a western called Renegade, with Juliette Lewis and Ernest Borgnine. French production, very good movie, too long, too many scenes. When I got to the Kill Bill set, I still had the white cowboy hat I got in Mexico.”
Madsen wore the hat to the first readthrough. “Quentin said, ‘You’re not gonna wear the hat.’ I said, ‘Well, Quentin, I think I am.’” After the third read-through, Tarantino relented: “He said, ‘I’m only used to seeing you in that hat,’ and he let me wear the damn thing.” So, Madsen’s Budd became the revenge film’s white-hatted moral core…though Tarantino eventually got him out of the hat in the most roundabout way possible, writing an entire scene around one character demanding that Budd remove that hat. “It was the only way Quentin was ever going to get me to take off the hat, putting it in the script.”
Madsen’s got literally dozens of movies coming out soon, most of them low-budget B-movies with foreign financing that are still seeking US release. One that he’s most proud of is Strength and Honour, a boxing movie (“fight picture”) which gives Madsen a rare good-guy turn: “No guns, no cigarettes.”
Madsen’s my nomination for the Hardest-Working Man in Show Business. In addition to all those low-budget independent productions – “I’ve been offered a picture in Budapest, ‘Men Don’t Lie.’” – he spent the last decade in blockbusters (Die Another Day) and zeitgeist sensations (Sin City); starring in two TV shows, one by David Milch and one by ESPN; and lending his voice to Grand Theft Auto III and The Chronicles of Narnia. He even writes poetry! I can’t think of another performer who’s amassed such a diverse array of credits, can you?
*That number’s changed to 28 since I first looked.
** You get the feeling that Madsen says “I’ll tell you a story” all the time. The man’s overflowing with random bits of knowledge. Towards the end of our interview, I ask him who his icons are. “I’m kind of a sap for the past. I love Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, Robert Mitchum. Lancaster once said he always felt like he was acting with his hair.” Does Madsen ever feel that way? “You have good hair days and bad hair days. You hope for a good stylist.”
Photo Credit: Everett Collection
Michael Madsen is awse. I’m glad he’s always working; hopefully he’ll turn out another gem.
always enjoyed him. keep it up!
Great article and I agree, hardest working guy in the industry! I’ve always been a fan and thanks to Netflix, I’ve seen almost all of his films. Some are tough to get through but watching him in action is worth it.
I love Michael Madsen. I don’t think he ever received the recognition he deserved, he’s an awesome actor.
Tarantino should be using him in all his films. I loved Bud and Mr Blonde. Whatever happened to pairing up the Vega Bros. on screen?? Vincent and Vic. Let’s do it QT!! I know both characters have ***spoiler*** bit the bullet so to speak. But with today’s technology you could make Madsen and Travolta look 25 years younger. Do it QT, do it!!!
Loved him in Species, the Getaway, and Mullholland Falls.
I remember him being in a show on USA about a family in Witness Protection- does anyone remember this or what the show’s name was?
What a ridiculous article. It fails to mention the reason why he’s in so many movies: Because he’s in serious debt! The dude’s bankrupt and is scrambling for as much work as possible. Why not ask him about what got him there? I think that might be a bit more relevant than celebrating him as a ‘hard-working actor’.
Who cares if he is broke? That doesn’t change the fact that he is hard working.
Sure, he’s hard-working. But this interview completely ignores the elephant in the room and that’s what my beef is with it. He’s in debt to his friends and to the government. He either made some terrible investments or lived beyond his means, and now he’s paying the price for it by taking every offer that comes his way.
I have a picture of him as Mr. Blonde hanging in my office. He makes everything he is in better. Even his small part in Thelma and Louise added something to Susan Sarandon’s character we wouldn’t have otherwise seen. Good article.
Great profile on Madsen. Your column today makes some of your peers seem ridiculous. Good job.
Is it weird that I’ll always and forever think of him only as Glen from “Free Willy”?
“You gonna bark all day little doggie, or are you gonna bite?”
He was brilliant in “Reservoir Dogs” and gave a great, heartfelt performance in the “Kill Bill” saga.
I couldn’t think of a single actor when EW asked who we’d watch in anything…but Madsen is that guy for me. Anytime one of his “pictures” comes on I have to stop and watch his performance. His gravity always amazes me.
no wonder his been nominated Michael Madsen in the movie Outrage by director Ace Cruz was actually an uplifting story. I thought Madsen did a fantastic job as he always does with being in the mental character of a bad-ass bad boy. The story was well written and had a theme which evoked a spiritual message. Madsen as usual made the story of Outrage Movie come to life.
Great article! He’ll always be “Mr. Chapel” to me. Vengence Unlimited was great and Mr. Madsen was terrific. It was far more interesting and entertaining than anything on now.