- Mel Gibson, Lethal Weapon, 1986. In all, 39 possibilities for the off-kilter, ’Nam vet cop Martin Riggs – not as mentally-deranged as in early drafts (he used a rocket launcher on one guy!) Some ideas were inevitable: Alec Baldwin, Michael Biehn (shooting Aliens), Jeff Bridges, Michael Douglas, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, Al Pacino, Sean Penn, William Petersen, Dennis Quaid, Christopher Reeve, Kurt Russell, Charlie Sheen, Sylvester Stallone, John Travolta, Bruce Willis. Some were inspired: Bryan Brown, Nicolas Cage, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum (he inherited Gibson’s role in The Fly), William Hurt (too dark for Warner Bros), Michael Keaton, Michael Madsen, Liam Neeson, Eric Roberts. Some were insipid: Jim Belushi, Pierce Brosnan, Kevin Costner, Kevin Kline, Stephen Lang, Michael Nouri (he joined another cop duo in The Hidden), Patrick Swayze. Plus TV cops Don Johnson, Tom Selleck… three foreign LA cops: Austrian Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dutch Rutger Hauer and French Christophe(r) Lambert. And the inevitable (Aussie) outsider Richard Norton.
- Bruce Willis, Die Hard, 1987.
For once, the prerequisite Great Outsider won… There were 17 possible John McClanes. From Tom Berenger, Michael Madsen and Willis to top TV heroes Richard Dean Anderson and Don Johnson to A-listers: Burt, Charles Bronson, James Caan, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Richard Gere, Mel Gibson, Nick Nolte, Al Pacino, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone… and Frank Sinatra? Yes, well, Roderick Thorpe’s book, Nothing Lasts Forever, was sequel to The Detective – that 1967 film starred Sinatra (as Joe Leland, changed here to McClane). And so Sinatra had first dibs on any sequels. He passed. He was 73! In his 1980 movie his debut, The First Deadly Sin, Willis was seen leaving a bar as Sinatra walks in. So it flows… He was soon taking roles from most of those on the McClane list., The First Deadly Sin, Willis is seen leaving a bar as Sinatra walks in. So it flows. - Timothy Carhart, Thelma & Louise, 1990.
- Chris Noth, Law & Order, TV, 1990-1995. Madsen was favourite for Detective Mike Logan until the final reading when the NBC suits felt that his “acting mannerisms were repetitive.” Noth played Logan in the 1988 pilot and the following 110 episodes – plus a chapter of Homicide: Life On The Streets 1995, an L&O tele-film, Exiled, in 1998, and 36 chapters of the first spin-off, Law & Order: Criminal Justice, 2005-2008.
- Steve Buscemi, Reservoir Dogs, 1991.
- Christopher Walken, True Romance,1992. In the Tarantino family (via Monte Hellman who had been due to make Reservoir Dogs), Madsen tried to get the Tarantino script made, but no one was interested until after Dogs, by which time Quentin had sold his script to, you know… eat. UK director Tony Scott then saw Madsen, Robert Forster and Liam Neeson for Vincenzo Coccotti. Except when it comes to Quentin Tarantino monologues, Walken rules!
- John Travolta, Pulp Fiction, 1993.
- Eric Stolz, Killing Zoe, 1994. Casting announced in Cannes 1992 for the directing debut of whiz-bang director Quentin Tarantino’s writing partner, Roger Avary, included the man of more than 100 movies, five sons, four books of poetry, three wives, one parrot and the four-bedroom house Keith Moon built on the Malibu beach.
- Woody Harrelson, Natural Born Killers, 1994. “Oliver Stone [directing] wanted me, but the studios offered him an extra $20m to cast Woody Harrelson.” “I fucked up,” admitted Stone. “Michael was not harmed but I wronged him by promising him the role and not being able to deliver.”
- Tom Sizemore, Heat, 1995. William Petersen, auteur Michael Mann’s star of To Live and Die in LA ten years earlier, passed Michael Cheritto on to Madsen, who was then dropped without (public ) explanation. Sjzemore had been first reserve in case either Robert De Niro or Al Pacinio (or their possible replacements, Nick Nolte, Jeff Bridges) dropped out. Never happened so Mann was obligated to compensate Sizemore with a shorter decent role.
- George Clooney, From Dusk Till Dawn, 1995. All of Tarantino’a crew were booked elsewhere: Steve Buscemi, Madsen, Tim Roth, John Travolta. “If you don’t try to take destiny into your own hands, you’re just going to be pegged and manipulated as a gun for hire. ‘There’s a crazy guy in this movie. Let’s get Madsen!’ I’d rather ride off into the sunset with the girl…leave the building unscathed…”
- Russell Crowe, LA Confidential, 1996. “It was written with me in mind, but Russell Crowe got the part. Go figure.” At the time, Madsen was too busy channeling Mitchum – minus the charisma.
- Billy Zane, This World, Then The Fireworks, 1997. “I really wanted incest,” laughed Michael Oblowitz when telling me about his notion of having his incestuous lovers played by real siblings, such as Michael and Virginia Madsen.
- Tom Sizemore, Saving Private Ryan, 1998. Not many people turn down Steven Spielberg. Madsen did – and suggested his pal Sizemopre. A dumb move in that the role of Sergeant Horvath finally took Sizemore out of his usual routine, turning him into a 90s; William Bendix. Tom said it helped him fight his demons as Spielberg threatened to deep-six him and re-shoot the entire film if the actor once failed a drug test.
- Tom Sizemore, Black Hawk Down, 2001. Danny McKnight was offered by UK director Ridley Scott but shooting clashed with his Big Apple gig. Sizemore had already been a US Army Ranger for the second time. The first was in Saving Private Ryan. The guy was doing well, Spielberg, Scott… with Barry Sonnenfeld and Lawrence Kasdan to follow.
- Michael Biehn, Hawaii, TV, 2004. Change of Michaels after Madsen’s apparent creative differences. Maybe he wuz right! NBC canned the show after seven chapters and to prove it, the producers sold all the set’s knick-knacks to the Honolulu public. Not quite the same as buying Dorothy’s ruby slippers.
- Michael Fassbender, Inglorious Basterds, 2008. Quentin Tarantino had the title since 1998 – the US title but not the same story of Enzo G Casterllari’s 1978 spaghetti war saga, Quel maledetto trena blindato. Madsen later announced the first casting of himself, Eddie Murphy, Tim Roth, Adam Sandler. But QT (aka Cute) postponed everything for his Kill Bills, 2003/4… and failed to achieve his dream of having Arnie, Bruce and Sly in the same movie. (Sly pulled that off for his Expendables).
- Bruce McGill, Rizzoli & Isles, TV, 2010-2016. Tom Atkins, Powers Boothe, Miguel Ferrer, Robert Patrick, Eric Roberts, Fisher Stevens and three Reservoir Dogs – Messers Pink, Blonde and Orange aka Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth – were in the frame for Detective Rizzoli’s former partner, Vince Korsak in this latest take on Cagney & Lacey. Oh, and in his sixth move, Paxton The Dog played the pooch called… Jo Friday!
- Jeremy Piven, Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For, 2013. Bob went from Madsen tyo Piven when Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez finally sequelised their 2004 hit. This time, the script was adapted from Miller’s Dame, Just Another Saturday Night and the never-published Long, Bad Night.
Birth year: Death year: Other name: Casting Calls: 18