Kenny Santana, Contributor, Cannes
At this year's Cannes Film Festival promoting Sin City and The Last Drop, actor Michael Madsen talked about Hollywood's real deal, his take on life after Reservoir Dogs, bad sequels, why Kill Bill was shunned at the Oscars and wanting a romantic lead.
Following are excerpts of the interview.
Question: Did you see any of that money?
Answer: No, unfortunately not. They have a system that actors so want to be involved in the film that you're usually not bothered about the money. They're wise enough or clever enough to devise the system so everybody gets the same thing across the board. It's not a lot (of money), but (you're) under the assumption that being involved in a film would promote you or help you enhance your career. And that's the reason why you should doing it, not because you're getting paid.
I just try to refer to my head, that's why I do films like The Last Drop. But you can't say no to a job if you're an actor. You gotta take a job, and make a lot of crappy movies, because I try to take care my family. I have five sons to pay for, you know.
A lot of times, you agree to do stuff that you shouldn't do, but then again, every once in a while you find yourself good films like Kill Bill and Sin City and fortunately, The Last Drop turned out (to be) very good. So down the line, it pays off if you're wise enough to make the right deal, to be involved in producing and things.
That's what you're doing?
I certainly wised up in that direction. I get a lot more involved in production and things (now). I got a few scripts out there now that I'm trying to get people to connect me to. That's definitely what I'm gonna do. I should've started doing that about 10 years ago (laughs).
Is it more difficult to be in Hollywood now than, say, 10 years ago?
Yeah, tremendously so. It's the boys club. There are a lot of managers and producers who are represented by the same representations. They got a very tight club. It's the flavor of the month. The flavor is gonna be enjoyed by everyone on the planet whether they want it or not. The same actors are gonna be kicked and thrown on the movie-going public for years and years, and every once in a while, have a big hit and they make another 20 million (dollars), and fly around with their private jet.
Meanwhile, working stiffs like me with 5 kids, I gotta kick somebody's door (in) to find a job. It's becoming a lot more difficult, because you know what? It's a business and it's about making money. It's not for me to sit here and cry about it. This is what I decided to do with my life and I gotta accept it for what it is.
There were times when Reservoir Dogs was hotter than hot, you did movies like Species and stuff. Were there times when you knocked a bit harder and not been the 20 million-dollar guy?
The thing is, I had bad representation. I hung my head on a hook in a room with an agent that let me down.
I also went through a couple of bad divorces. I guess at that time, I should've probably been producing my own material. The thing about Species is it's great, but I shouldn't've done the sequel 'cause it was horrifying. It's one of the worst movies ever made.
And you're like, ""Oh my God, what have I done?"" (laughs) And then you get someone like Lawrence Kasdan who calls you up and asks, ""You want to play with Kevin Costner?"" Yeah, yeah, that sounds pretty good. ""But you won't get paid any money, because you're going to be on-screen with Kevin and it's gonna do great things for you."" All right, all right. So I walked down with Kevin, but he's the one who stops at the bank, you know what I mean?
Who knows, if it had been a big hit, I would be the smartest guy in Hollywood, because I want to play a cowboy instead of a gangster. But the movie was a flop so I ended up as the guy who did Wyatt Earp. Oh, man!
And then, what was the other sequel I shouldn't have done? It was, ...mmm, the second Free Willy. I should have skipped that one too. The first one was a wonderful kids' movie. It was fantastic. The second one's a hack. We're working with robots, there are no whales in the sequel. They're animatronics. You're petting this piece of rubber, you know. ""C'mon, boy, get back to the sea"", and meanwhile, the damn thing is hooked up to a generator. It's malfunctioning and you're like, ""Holy s***."" ""Look concerned, act concerned. Ok. And cut!'
I'll be in my trailer. Leave me alone.
But you must've looked at your car and you thought that's the kind of thing Free Willy 2 paid for, that's not too bad.
I'm not sitting here crying to you guys. I'm just giving you the reality of it all. I've got some nice things in my life. Some of the films I've done. I've been able to give my family a good life. I've been wise about a few things and I definitely have something to show those days. It goes on and you gotta keep going. You got to pay your taxes.
You know, Hollywood keeps reinventing itself for younger and younger actors. Guys like me, they like to put my name in a billing block to get a couple of extra hundred grand in their budget because of the things I've done before. But I think my best works are ahead of me.
Look at Mickey (Rourke) in Sin City. It's such a tremendous performance. Mickey is just a phenomenon. His screen presence is kinda mind-boggling. I love Mickey. He's like the Jesus of actors. He suffers all these horrible slings and arrows and wounds. He's walking down the street with all the bandages, and he's like, ""I'm still here, you sons of b*****s. You're not gonna get me down.""
It's weird, it's like his life, you know. He's playing this wonderful character: Marv is like this strong menace, but you also feel that Marv has tremendous heart and sweetness and warmth. That's not acting, that's Mickey. That's a gift. But what have they done to his career? These big shots of Hollywood just rode him off.
What have you learned during your career?
I learned that there are a lot of liars in Hollywood, a lot of deception that goes on, very clever maneuvering of funds, tedious efforts that convince people to do things for the wrong reasons, convincing actors to work in a film without pay because it's beneficial to him.
It's the same thing if you turned it around and asked, ""Why do you want me in the film? Why don't you do the film for nothing? Because it's also beneficial for you to have me as an actor in the film."" ...Which is an equal argument, but it doesn't work that way. Cause you're not gonna say no, and they know you're not gonna say no.
I think what I've learned is perhaps that I should have been a carpenter. My father wanted me to be a firefighter. Sometimes I think I made a big mistake becoming an actor, it turned out to be a lonely life. It's really a hard push to keep going, to continue to have the force.
So many young filmmakers right now, and the idea of going to have a meeting with somebody's kid and convince them you're right for a part, right for the film when I've been around for 17 years and made 64 pictures, it's like -- I don't wanna be rude -- but you feel like saying, let's get on with it.
Even in the lousy, crappy movies I made, I never walked through it, I never gave it up, I never spit on it, I never didn't show up, I never held up production. I've never been that kind of guy. At least I can be proud of that.
Some of these young filmmakers are the generation who watched Reservoir Dogs and thought you were great.
That's very true. I have a huge following from Reservoir Dogs. It's tremendous. But having said that, I'm the guy who cut off the cop's ear. Reservoir Dogs became the movie about Mr. Blonde (Madsen's character). It became the focus of the entire film. And over time, it's become that. And I said 64 films, and the only one anyone really talks about is Reservoir Dogs. I thought Kill Bill would replace that, and it did for a time. Being remembered for that kind of role puts people in a mood of thinking that's the best character you play, and then you're incredibly limited in what you can be asked to do.
I'd like to be on screen with a woman, I'd like to have a love interest once in a while instead of shooting everybody. I have a lot to give as an actor. It's wonderful to have the admiration in the memory of Reservoir Dogs, but it doesn't transfer itself to the marketplace or people offering you a great role. You just have these young filmmakers who go. ""Michael Madsen? You're gonna be the guy who runs around and kills everyone. We only need you for one day and we'll give you $25,000 'cause we don't have any money.""
Then they run around and say, ""We got Michael Madsen in our movie."" And the movie turns out to be a complete disaster. I look like an idiot, because I'm in it. And people go, ""Did you see that picture? Why did he do that?"" If it turned out to be great, they'd sell it to a distributor for $10 million. You know what I'm saying?
What about going to TV?
I've done the series Vengeance Unlimited for ABC, I told them they shouldn't call it that -- but if you have an opinion, it works against you. You have to be an animated puppet, or else you're hated. You can't have an opinion. I told them to call the show Mr. Chapel.
And I should've been in The Fugitive instead of Tim Daly, Tim Daly destroyed The Fugitive franchise, because he was the wrong actor for the part, you know? They wouldn't cast me in The Fugitive. Why? ""We don't believe that Michael would've ever been a doctor."" Would you believe Tim Daly was a fugitive? (laughs) I don't think so. (Mimicking Daly's expression) That's all he did in every episode. I was gonna throw or break the television. It's over. It went down.
And I did a thing for ESPN called Tilt for a while. I played a world-class champion poker player. We only did nine episodes, shot in Canada and Las Vegas. I made some money on that, which is pretty good. I did the best I could, I tried to bring it to a different level. They wanted me to just play the down and dirty card, playing the maniac, and I wanted the guy to be more unpredictable. Maybe he's not such a bad guy.
And I said, the best way for me to do it is to balance it, if you give me a daughter, so I can be communicative in a parental way. It would turn down the badness of the character. And they did, they gave me a daughter. They listened to my suggestion, they supported me in what I did with my part. I'm proud of it, it's a good show. Unfortunately, ESPN is not exactly a dramatic network. They did nine episodes and at the end of it, never planned doing more. So I did TV, but I don't prefer it.
... I don't want to be in a beach blanket sitcom, Everybody Loves Raymond. Guess what? They don't (laughs). When they said everybody, does that include me? Why don't they call it, Some People Love Raymond? It would've been more fair. Everybody loves Raymond. They do??? (laughs)
How different has the industry's reaction been toward you after Kill Bill?
You see, Kill Bill didn't get any Academy Awards, which is also another mystery to me. A huge phenomenon. But I think there's been a stigma, there's been some kind of thing about the Weinsteins, Hollywood, the studios, and they are always against each other now. Miramax broke away from Disney. Don't you think it's a funny coincidence that Kill Bill didn't get any Academy Award? ...
It was a tremendous film. A tremendous achievement in film. Nobody got jacked from that thing. Not David Carradine, oh my God. What about Uma Thurman? ... Who else did that? Anything close to that? So, the reaction was: `Michael was great. He did a good job. What time is Leo DiCaprio coming in?""
You're good friends with Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino. You want to get away from the perception that you made Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs through these guys. Maybe you want to strike out on your own?
I mean, obviously, I've got a lot to give. I like to find some more opportunities -- that's why I come to a place like this. Hopefully I'll meet some directors, some people who are doing some pictures that I can get involved in. I think it's about time for me to start playing some different types of characters, something more leading man. Something more romantic.
I'm a leading man trapped in a bad man's body. That's my problem. So was Bogart, he never got out of it until he did The Maltese Falcon. After that, he was cool, he had a woman. That wouldn't have happened 15 years earlier in his career.
There's still time for you.
There's still time for me. There's a pretty good chance (laughs).
NOTE: Sin City will not be screened in Indonesia, due to its lack of ""educational content"", according to local industry insiders.
