The very day I had been asked if I would be interested in interviewing actor Michael Madsen about his participation in Reservoir Dogs was the very day I read Madsen’s quote in the Chicago Sun-Times that, in effect, stated: All anybody wants to talk to me about is that scene in Reservoir Dogs. I’ve done a lot of other movies and no one wants to ask me anything about them.
So I passed.
I figured I’d give the man his space. He was obviously sick of talking about Reservoir Dogs so I, for one, would respect that and not talk to him about Reservoir Dogs. And besides, talking to people who feel that they are being pigeon-holed or typecast about the roles that they feel they are being pigeon-holed or typecast in is even worse. Like Guttman said in The Maltese Falcon, "I like talking to a man who likes to talk." As a reporter, I too enjoy conversing with people who like to converse. I don’t, however, have any desire to talk to people who do not want to talk. Madsen did not seem to want to talk, especially about Reservoir Dogs.
"Why don’t you ask him about that?" his publicist questioned with a smirk on her face. "That’s an interesting angle."
And it distinctly was. With that in mind, I readily accepted the interview and went into it, for the first (and probably) last time, with the mindset of preparing to talk to someone specifically about why they didn’t want to talk.
I mentioned this to Madsen at the outset of our conversation and he laughed. Apparently not too many people have been interested in not talking to him about Reservoir Dogs, but I am.
"The problem is that most of the things I’ve talked about have been recycled over and over and over," Madsen says in his soft, raspy voice. "Everyone just thinks that I’m a tough guy from Chicago and it’s like, ‘Okay, it’s just so tired already.’"
I bring up his quote in the Sun-Times and Madsen resolutely states, "It’s the only reason that anyone wants to talk to me recently..." He trails off, a resigned sadness in his voice. That tone quickly disappears as Madsen begins to speak again. "I’ve made a lot of pictures and I’ve done some pretty good pictures. I never considered the scenes in [Reservoir] Dogs to be that violent." The scene he is discussing is the scene where his character lops off the ear of a trussed up policeman with a straight razor. "I have to believe though," he continues, "that an actor is only as good as the filmmaker he’s associated with. Out of the sixty five pictures that I’ve made, I think that there are only five that are any good, you know?"
Madsen laughs heartily again and says, "Okay... now that I’ve said that, let me think." He pauses for a moment and starts in again, "Donnie Brasco’s a good picture. I liked it, but I don’t think it was released right. I liked The Getaway," he says, referring to his participation in the 1994 remake of the Steve McQueen classic. "I don’t think that it’s comparable to the original," Madsen nods, pre-emptively answering my question, "but I still think it stands on its own."
Madsen then lists his work in Thelma & Louise, Kill Me Again and Free Willy. Madsen is credited with a huge assortment of roles–26 projects since 2000, at the time of the interview–a notion which he quickly dispels. "A lot of those are pictures that I was taken advantage of by independent filmmakers who use my name to promote their garbage, pictures by guys who I worked two days for that went straight to video and pictures for people who I did a favor for and I ended up getting listed as being in the movie," Madsen says in a single long breath. "I don’t do that anymore though. I don’t get involved with those kinds of thing. I’m trying to be more careful with the projects I get involved with."
Surprisingly, given his tough-guy image, Madsen is looking to get involved with projects where he can "ride off into the sunset," and play a wholesome romantic lead. "If somebody would get me on the screen with some of the actresses who are currently enjoying cinema success... it would work," he nods. "I wish some of the studios would realize that."
"The only time I was able to do that was in Free Willy," Madsen grins. "Now, if a family is walking down the street, the kids recognize me from Free Willy and the parents don’t want their kids to go near me because they know me from Reservoir Dogs!" Another peal of laughter and, "It’s Mr. Blonde! Get away from him!"
