An appreciation of Budd, the would-be cowboy who gets kicked around in Kill Bill Vol. 2.
Some actors pass on without a satisfying farewell performance. Others seem to have one locked and loaded for years, even decades, before they actually leave us. The latter was the case with the late Michael Madsen, an in-demand character actor probably best known for his roles in Quentin Tarantino films. He appeared in half of Tarantino’s features, including a memorable role as the ear-slicing Mr. Blonde in Tarantino’s debut, Reservoir Dogs.
At the time, Madsen was more of a known quantity than his soon-to-be-famous writer/director pal. He appeared in WarGames and The Natural early on, and just before Reservoir Dogs in 1992, he had a pretty big 1991 with roles in The Doors and Thelma & Louise. Those combined with Dogs seemed to boost his career to the next level, particularly when a movie called for someone with similar vibes to Tom Sizemore but perhaps less likely to spontaneously stab you (the ear-slicing notwithstanding). He is definitely the only guy to have a major role in both the Species and Free Willy franchises. By the 2000s, he was a staple of direct-to-video movies but still a recognizable character actor, meaning his filmography is dotted both with stuff as mainstream as a James Bond movie and titles that sound like something Troy McClure might have boasted about on The Simpsons, like Vampires Anonymous. These titles overtook his bigger-studio work in the past decade-plus.
The constant was his work for Tarantino, never in as big a part as Mr. Blonde, but still evocative – particularly his role in the Kill Bill saga. He played Budd, the only male member of the Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad besides their leader, his brother Bill. It’s Bill who orders them to go after The Bride (Uma Thurman) when she leaves the group to have a child, earning her post-coma ire and a “roaring rampage of revenge.
