Michael Madsen is an American actor and poet born on September 25, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois. The son of Emmy-winning poet, producer and playwright Elaine Melson and Calvin Madsen who works as a fireman, Michael Madsen is of Danish, Irish and Native American descent. He joined Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago, where he worked as an apprentice for John Malkovich. He had his film debut in 1983, when he did a small role in the suspense film WarGames. Upon moving to Los Angeles, he landed roles in the films The Natural, as the baseball player Bump Bailey, Kill Me Again, as a psychotic killer, and in Thelma & Louise, as the tough but caring boyfriend of Susan Sarandon’s character.
Because of his portrayed roles in his early films, Michael Madsen soon made a reputation as an actor who often plays “tough guy” characters. He further made a name for himself when he co-starred in Quentin Tarantino’s crime film Reservoir Dogs, as the sadistic jewel thief “Mr. Blonde.” His role in the film attracted the attention of critics and viewers. He then followed this with his performances in the films Free Willy, Mulholland Falls, Wyatt Earp, and Species. In 1997, Madsen once again showcased his superb acting skills when he co-starred with Johnny Depp and Al Pacino Mike Newell’s crime film Donnie Brasco.
In 2002, Madsen co-starred with Pierce Brosnan and Halle Berry in the James Bond film Die Another Day, in which he played the high ranking NSA official Damian Falco. The following year, Madsen once again reunited with Quentin Tarantino in the action film Kill Bill, as Budd also known as Sidewinder, one of the members of Bill’s elite group of assassin. He later reprised this role in the film’s sequel Kill Bill Volume 2 released in Spring 2004. In 2005, Madsen was cast in the film adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel Sin City, as John Hartigan’s (Bruce Willis) partner.
Madsen’s other films include Scary Movie 4 and The North Hollywood Shootout.
Well, one thing for sure, I won't be remembered for Free Willy (1993). Or maybe I will.
[in Men's Health, March 2004] Kids are a great excuse for you to stop acting like one.
Encourage your kids' artistic side. Toughen up everything else.
Your children don't have to fear you to respect you.
Is it really selling out if it feeds your family?
I encourage my boys to do stuff in the arts, but I'm also an advocate of not taking any !$#!# . . . I have a heavy bag and every morning the boys go three three-minute rounds on the heavy bag with the gloves.
The oddest thing is when children recognize me from Free Willy (1993) and their parents recognize me from Reservoir Dogs (1992). The kids are, like, "There's Glen!" and the parents are, like, "Don't go near that guy!"
I'm a leading man trapped inside a bad guy's body.
You get these horrifying straight-to-video things for very little money, then you go to the Cannes Film Festival and they got some poster of you, 40 feet high, in the worst movie in the world. You're like, "Oh my God. Take the !$#!#ing thing down!"
[2004] Maybe I was just born in the wrong era, man. I'm a bit of a throwback to the days of black-and-white movies. Those guys back then, they had a certain kind of directness about them. A lot of the screenplays, the plots were very simplistic - they gave rise to a type of anti-hero that maybe I suit better.
L.A. Confidential (1997) was written with me in mind, but 'Russell Crowe (I)' got the part. Go figure.
[On Donnie Brasco (1997)] Great film, sure, but not a payday. [Al Pacino] and [Johnny Depp] got all the money. There was none left for me.
I've been in a few brawls in my time.
I probably made a few pictures I shouldn't have done, but I have four sons and I have to pay the rent. If you have a decision to make about whether or not you can buy groceries at the market or whether or not you're going to make a bad movie, you're going to make a bad movie.
My career has been very strange. My career is like a heart monitor. I get involved in a good project now and then to keep things going. And then I make things that I work on that I hope are going to be good so I can make a living and keep a roof over the heads of those little monsters I have in my house. You know, every movie you make can't be great, no matter who you are. Even [Marlon Brando] made some clinkers.
I grew up in a time when I watched actors like Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum . . . those are the movies that I liked and I responded to. They're all gone now and there's no talent like that anymore, there's no immensity of talent that exists like that in the motion picture industry. Even the movies are turning into a bunch of junk. They think if they put a handsome face in there or a good-looking body and they surround it with enough cars blowing up, that it is going to be entertaining . . . but in the long run it's just not going to last. It's all empty, there's no story anymore . . . the same thing is happening to the motion picture industry that is happening to the landscape.
[on his role in Strength and Honour (2007)] It's a movie about fighters, not fighting. You know, I got over seeing myself on screen a long time ago, but watching this film really affects me.
I say my [tough guy] acting days are over, But then [Humphrey Bogart] made 30 pictures playing a [tough guy], and it wasn't until The Maltese Falcon (1941) that he was thought of as a leading man.
I like to diversify. And I am all about longevity. I want to be doing this for as long as I can. I have made, I think, 72 pictures now. And I have made a lot of studio stuff and I have made a lot of low-budget stuff. The fun of making independent films is that they are a lot more open and it is a lot easier to ad-lib and create a character and collaborate with the director. With a studio picture, you are a lot more controlled and your whole environment and your whole presentation is a lot more monitored.