What people don't always understand is that I established a certain lifestyle for my family back in the days of 'Species' and 'Mulholland Falls' and 'The Getaway.' I wasn't about to move my six kids into a trailer park. So when people offered me work, it wasn't always the best, but I had to buy groceries, and I had to put gas in the car.

Michael Madsen

Maybe I was just born in the wrong era, man. I'm a bit of a throwback to the days of black and white movies. Those guys back then, they had a certain kind of directness about them. A lot of the screenplays, the plots were very simplistic - they gave rise to a type of anti-hero that maybe I suit better.

Michael Madsen

I've done two motorcycle pictures: I did 'Beyond The Law,' and I did one produced by Tarantino called 'Hell Ride,' with Dennis Hopper and David Carradine and Vinnie Jones. And I just think 'Hell Ride' was a lot more of what a biker movie should be. But the good part of 'Beyond The Law' was that I had a good time with Charlie Sheen.

Michael Madsen

I don't love being an actor, but I'm not qualified to be anything else. I was an auto mechanic and drove a tow truck and tried to go to school to be a paramedic.

Michael Madsen

'L.A. Confidential' was written with me in mind, but Russell Crowe got the part. Go figure.

Michael Madsen

I worked a lot of non-acting jobs for a really long time. They ranged from auto mechanic to landscaper to manual labor to working in a factory that made airplane parts. I even tried to go to school as a paramedic and ended up being an orderly in a hospital.

Michael Madsen

I used to be one of those guys with a lot of angst, you know? I just don't anymore. I'm not angst-ridden anymore. I've faced reality of what I am and what I have to do in life.

Michael Madsen

I'm not a publicity hound. I don't care about being on the cover of 'GQ' or 'Vanity Fair.'

Michael Madsen

I can't surf, so I swim. It's the best workout I've ever known because it works your entire body.

Michael Madsen

I'm glad I wasn't in 'Free Willy 3.' That's all I can say on that.

Michael Madsen

I'm a leading man trapped in a bad guy's body.

Michael Madsen

Is it really selling out if it feeds your family?

Michael Madsen

I do get cast in the same role a lot, but the truth is, I just want longevity. The thing is, I'd rather be stuck in a stereotype than be nowhere. The whole typecasting thing started because of 'Reservoir Dogs.' And I did a bunch of other films like 'Wyatt Earp' and 'Free Willy,' but no one seems to remember those.

Michael Madsen

What people don't always understand is that I established a certain lifestyle for my family back in the days of 'Species' and 'Mulholland Falls' and 'The Getaway.' I wasn't about to move my six kids into a trailer park. So when people offered me work, it wasn't always the best, but I had to buy groceries, and I had to put gas in the car.

Michael Madsen

I probably made a few pictures I shouldn't have done, but I have four sons and I have to pay the rent. If you have a decision to make about whether or not you can buy groceries at the market or whether or not you're going to make a bad movie, you're going to make a bad movie.

Michael Madsen

My career has been very strange. My career is like a heart monitor. I get involved in a good project now and then to keep things going. And then I make things that I work on that I hope are going to be good so I can make a living and keep a roof over the heads of those little monsters I have in my house.

Michael Madsen

Kids are a great excuse for you to stop acting like one.

Michael Madsen

Your children don't have to fear you to respect you.

Michael Madsen

Encourage your kids' artistic side. Toughen up everything else.

Michael Madsen

My big ambition was to be Richard Petty.

Michael Madsen

You get these horrifying straight-to-video things for very little money, then you go to the Cannes Film Festival, and they got some poster of you, 40 ft. high, in the worst movie in the world.

Michael Madsen