Quentin Tarantino broke his silence on Michael Madsen’s death at a star-studded tribute held for the late actor in Los Angeles this Friday.
Held at the Vista Theatre, which Tarantino owns, the event welcomed a number of Madsen’s co-stars including Daryl Hannah and Sean Penn.
Madsen died July 3 at the age of 67 of what his manager described as ‘cardiac arrest,’ which his death certificate later indicated was brought on by cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, and chronic alcoholism.
He was beloved by movie buffs for the four films he acted in for Tarantino, including the director’s feature debut Reservoir Dogs in 1992 and his latest movie Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood in 2019.
His death prompted an outpouring of tributes from friends and fans alike, but Tarantino, 62, mourned in private before he hosted this weeks’ tribute, which an attendee described as being tearful and emotional, via TMZ.
In footage that has surfaced from the service, Tarantino remained a positive demeanor as he took the stage and fondly shared anecdote’s about Madsen.
Quentin Tarantino broke his silence on Michael Madsen’s death at a star-studded tribute held for the late actor in Los Angeles this Friday; the pair are pictured together in 2005
Held at the Vista Theatre, which Tarantino owns, the event welcomed a number of Madsen’s co-stars including Daryl Hannah and Sean Penn; Tarantino pictured at the memorial
One of the stories was about how Madsen reacted when Tarantino fired the late Lawrence Tierney from Reservoir Dogs over the latter’s diva behavior on set.
‘It was the last hour of the last day of the first week of shooting. So I’d never directed a movie before. I’m now finishing my first week,’ Tarantino recalled.
Tierney, he said, was a ‘s***bag and ‘a complete insane person,’ but because Tarantino had ‘never directed before’ he convinced himself that ‘dealing with an insane person is just directing.’
Throughout the first week ‘all the other actors and the crew’ could not ‘stand him,’ but the shoot in general was ‘going fine, more or less,’ said Tarantino.
‘And then all of a sudden, he f***ing yells at me or something. He does something disrespectful. The other times, he was disrespectful but he didn’t quite mean it. This time he meant it,’ the filmmaker recalled:
As a result, Tarantino exploded at Tierney: ‘F*** you, you fat f***ing piece of s***, you’re f***ing fired!’ whereupon the crew burst into applause.
‘Okay, then I storm off and I’m thinking: “Okay, well, that’s that. All right, I’ve just spent a week shooting this f***ing guy and I just fired him? Live Entertainment’s gonna f***ing fire me. That’s it for the career. Nice while it lasted.”’
He and some of his colleagues used to go drinking at a bar at the end of each week, so Tarantino went home to change clothes for the outing – whereupon he was greeted by a message from Madsen on his answering machine.
Among the celebrity attendees at the event was Penn, who along with Madsen was part of the cast of the 1984 movie Racing with the Moon
‘Yeah, Quentin, it’s Michael,’ said Madsen. ‘Just calling to you to say I really respected what you did tonight, what you did today. It was important. It needed to be done. He was busting your b***s. You had to do it.’
Madsen added: ‘And I want you to know that I respect that, as my director. I respect that. I respect it as a director, I respect it as a captain and I respect it as a man. So I’m on your side, buddy. Thanks.’
Among the celebrity attendees at the event was Penn, who along with Madsen was part of the cast of the 1984 movie Racing with the Moon.
Madsen and Penn also both had cameos playing themselves in the 2003 documentary Pauly Shore Is Dead, directed by the comedian of the same name.
Penn attended Friday night’s event at the Vista Theatre with his son Hopper, 31, whom he shares with his second of three ex-wives, Robin Wright.
The Milk Oscar-winner was dressed somberly for the occasion, wearing a perfectly fitted black suit with a matching t-shirt and shoes.
Meanwhile Hannah, who memorably featured with Madsen in Tarantino’s 2004 film Kill Bill Vol. 2, also wore funereal black to attend the memorial solo.
Madsen’s son Christian, 35, was spotted outside the Vista Theatre taking comfort in his friends, who gathered together to wrap him in a group hug.
