Quentin Tarantino paid tribute to his late friend Michael Madsen as he shared how the star backed him for firing an actor from one of his movies.
Quentin Tarantino shared how Michael Madsen backed him for firing an actor from one of his movies.
The 62-year-old filmmaker held a memorial for his late friend Michael, 67, at his Vista Theatre in Los Angeles on Friday (01.08.25) and shared a story about how Michael supported him after a difficult interaction with actor Lawrence Tierney on Reservoir Dogs.
According to TMZ, he said: “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.
“He was a s***bag and a complete insane person [but I thought] dealing with an insane person is just directing.
“And then all of a sudden, he f****** 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.”
Tarantino admitted he lost it and screamed: “F*** you, you fat f******piece of s***, you’re f****** fired!
“Okay, then I storm off and I’m thinking: “Okay, well, that’s that. All right, I’ve just spent a week shooting this guy and I just fired him? Live Entertainment’s gonna fire me. That’s it for the career. Nice while it lasted.”
However, Tarantino was touched when he got home to a supportive message from Michael, 67, on his answering machine.
He said: “Yeah, Quentin, it’s Michael. 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****. You had to do it.
“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.”
Along with Tarantino, the memorial was attended by Sean Penn, Daryl Hannah and Madsen’s children.
According to a death certificate published by TMZ, the Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs star died of cardiac arrest caused by cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, and chronic alcoholism.
He passed away at his Malibu home on July 3.
Quentin Tarantino’s tribute to Michael Madsen
