MOVIE NEWS – “It was three hours of nausea”: Michael Madsen regretted starring in this western so much that he didn’t speak to Quentin Tarantino for years. It took a long time before the recently deceased actor and the director reunited for another film.

Life sometimes presents crossroads that can change the course of everything. Actors face these dilemmas constantly, often choosing between roles and sometimes unknowingly turning down future blockbusters. Still, rarely is the “what if?” as clear as it is in this story.

The 1993 Choice That Changed Everything

The year was 1993. Michael Madsen had just earned critical acclaim and modest box office success for Reservoir Dogs—no small feat for its tiny budget. He had become good friends with Quentin Tarantino, who asked him to join his next film, Pulp Fiction. But right around that time, Madsen also got another offer: to play one of Wyatt Earp’s brothers in the western biopic alongside Kevin Costner.

Madsen had to make a choice: stick with the up-and-coming director everyone was praising but who still had much to prove, or sign on for a familiar role with a Hollywood star at his peak. He chose to join Costner and turned down Pulp Fiction. At the time, it felt like the smart move, but in hindsight, it couldn’t have been more wrong.

In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Madsen opened up about the struggle to choose between the two projects and admitted he genuinely regretted picking the western.

“It was like three hours of nausea,” he recalled.

Wyatt Earp ended up being a box office flop in the U.S., while Pulp Fiction went on to become one of the top 10 hits of 1994.

Ten Years of Silence

According to reports, the decision not only cost Madsen a lead role in a cult classic but also sparked a feud with Tarantino that lasted for years. They only started speaking again after the script for Kill Bill (2003) was finished. One day, Madsen was at Tarantino’s house, reading the script poolside with a bottle of Icelandic schnapps, and Tarantino cast him on the spot as Budd. According to Madsen, that moment changed his career.

“I’m pretty sure we’ll make more movies together. I know Quentin’s juggling four or five scripts in his head at any one time, so I just have to wait. Quentin’s the only one who’s going to give me work!” Madsen said. And he was right—Tarantino brought him back again for The Hateful Eight (2015).

Source: Sensacine