By Drew Dietsch
| Printed 24 seconds in the past
Michael Madsen died on July 3, 2025. He’s an actor most people will know from any variety of powerful man roles. In all probability his most recognizable components had been within the collaborations he had with Quentin Tarantino. He crafted some of the disturbing and magnetic characters in crime cinema with Mr. Blonde in Reservoir Canine, gave fantastic depth and empathy to retired murderer Budd in Kill Invoice, and didn’t seem in Pulp Fiction in any respect just like the AI rubbish at The Guardian would have you ever imagine.
However upon listening to of Michael Madsen’s passing, the Tarantino position that instantly jumped to thoughts was Joe Gage a.okay.a. Grouch Douglass, one of many mysterious denizens of Minnie’s Haberdashery in The Hateful Eight. It’s arguably the final main studio launch that gave Madsen the highlight he deserved.
A Dude Enjoying A Dude Disguised As One other Dude
The Hateful Eight is partially an ode to appearing. The story includes various characters who’re pretending to be different folks with the intention to pull off a violent rescue. As such, it implies that actors get the possibility to layer their performances with further motivations. Their characters get to create characters.
Michael Madsen performs a member of a ruthless gang who’s launched as a touring cattle wrangler (or cowpuncher, because the film calls him). Though he’s actually a vicious assassin because the film will reveal, Madsen has to do his greatest to idiot bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) into believing he’s nothing greater than a mild-mannered rancher on his approach house to go to with Mom for Christmas.
What’s so humorous is that casting Michael Madsen isn’t only a matter of Tarantino giving one in all his actor buddies one other paycheck. His identified persona as an actor instantly makes him probably the most suspicious of the bunch. Nonetheless, Grouch Douglass does what he can to craft Joe Gage right into a believably easy man who’s simply making an attempt to take a seat out a blizzard.
And it’s that degree of expertise in his appearing that makes The Hateful Eight Madsen’s final nice highlight.
Michael Madsen Was A Soldier
The drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs (creator John Bloom taking part in a manufactured position himself) as soon as eulogized the trailblazing horror host John Zacherle by calling him “a soldier” in reference to Zacherle’s understanding of being a working entertainer. He didn’t view himself as a celeb (which he was among the many crew of Joe Bob’s present) however quite as somebody there to do a job to one of the best of his skills and never make the manufacturing a problem for anybody.
Once you have a look at the majority of Michael Madsen’s filmography, there isn’t a query that he held the same outlook in direction of his chosen occupation. The person himself as soon as said that he took so many roles as a result of he needed to feed his children. He didn’t get snooty or valuable in regards to the enterprise facet of remaining a working actor.
However Madsen was additionally knowledgeable. Though many films he did had been nothing greater than a paycheck (even my beloved Species II), he nonetheless delivered what his administrators requested of him.
It’s his floor standing as a purely mercenary actor that brings me again to Joe Gage and The Hateful Eight being the final really lovely highlight for a way gifted Madsen actually was and why he wasn’t given his correct accolades.
We Deserved Far Extra Michael Madsen Performances Value His Expertise
Madsen isn’t taking part in one of many extra centralized characters in The Hateful Eight, and it’s undeniably a job that’s relying on his repeated model of powerful man charisma, nevertheless it’s additionally one in all his final occasions he’s given prominence in a serious studio launch. That alone makes it worthy of highlighting.
However it additionally presents a window into the type of Michael Madsen roles we might’ve gotten extra of. Grouch Douglass provides Joe Gage a sympathetic backstory about wanting to go to with Mom for Christmas after he’s made his first actual cash as a accomplice in a cattle operation.
“…you don’t appear to be the coming-home-for-Christmas sort,” says John Ruth after Gage spins his origin story. Gage laughs and responds that he undoubtedly is the coming-home-for-Christmas-to-spend-time-with-Mom sort. “Christmas with Mom, it’s an exquisite factor.” Simply the concept this hardened prison is making an attempt to current himself as a sweethearted mama’s boy hints at an actor who would’ve appreciated to play extra of these roles.
I feel after I end The Hateful Eight, I would placed on Free Willy the place Madsen bought to showcase a higher emotional vary as an actor. That’s not a joke, he’s nice in that flick. I want he had gotten extra roles like that, however I’ll accept The Hateful Eight being his final large hurrah.
…May also watch the Species films once more.
