American actor Michael Madsen easily warmed up to the Philippines as soon as he arrived in the early morning of August 13.
Earlier, he had received a warm send-off by a group of excited, camera-wielding Filipinos while waiting at the Los Angeles airport.
"They said they have heard and read all about my coming here," Michael recalled. "That was such a thrill. It felt good that the Filipinos know of my visit, and you actually expect me in your country. Thank you."
Michael was here in Manila a few years back, shooting the film Road Warriors, under the helm of Filipino director-producer-writer Cirio H. Santiago.
Michael has nothing but good words for Santiago, who was previously cited by no less than influential Hollywood filmmaker and screenwriter Quentin Tarantino as one of his biggest influences.
Santiago succumbed to lung cancer on September 26, 2008. Among his achievements were the low-budget yet good action films such as Savage! (1973), T.N.T Jackson (1975), Firehawk (1993), Angel of Destruction (1994), and Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom (1994), among many others.
Michael's working relationship with Santiago eventually grew into friendship and the 52-year-old actor couldn't help but remember the late prolific director on his latest visit.
MANILA PROMO. Michael's return to the Philippines was made possible by another Filipino filmmaker, Ace Cruz. The Los Angeles-based actor-director appeared in local movies produced by Viva Films during the early '90s.
Ace Cruz tapped Michael to star in his latest action-drama thriller Outrage. The film won the Best Sci-Fi Movie award in the 2009 Action on Film International Film Festival in Pasadena, California.
Outrage premiered locally last August 14 at Cinema 1 of the SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City.
"You know sometimes you make a movie with people and they disappear in your life and you never see them again. They could care less if you dropped dead. But you know, Ace always stays in touch with me and he's been trying very hard to get his movie out there and it got to a point where I had to appreciate that.
"He never forgot about me even though I got busy doing other things and you know there were times when he asked me to do things and I couldn't do it because I wasn't available. I was just kind of happy that I ended up being available at this particular time and was able to come here with him," Michael told local reporters during an August 13 press conference at Harry's Bar in Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill, Taguig City.
Better known as a character actor rather than lead star, Michael confessed that he's not usually asked to "be part of the publicity" in promoting a film, like attending press conferences and media interviews.
"Coming over here I just kept thinking how lucky I am to be in the [movie] industry in the first place. Funny how it has kind of an afterlife, you know there is the experience of making it and then there's a whole second thing when it's all finished and it all comes together and it comes out," said the husky voiced actor.
"Coming back to this place was pretty spiritual for me because I'm gonna go see Cirio's urn, you know, he was cremated. And Ace knows a lot of folks here that's been very friendly to me and hopefully I can find some work and maybe try to come back and forth. I even thought of buying a place here, a residence or some sort where I can bring my sons here and give them an education that they're getting in America."
FILM ACHIEVEMENTS. The Chicago-born actor's credentials reveal a string of movies beginning with the 1982 film, Against All Hope.
Michael flirted both with independent and mainstream movies throughout his long career. He doesn't share Hollywood's obsession, though, for leading men and the marketing that goes with it.
He calls independent movies the "future" and highly commends the people working behind indies despite limited resources and publicity.
Michael's no-nonsense attitude was perhaps the reason he was cast on a number of cult hit films, such as Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992), Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003), and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004).
Some of Michael's other films include The Killing Time (1987), Shadows in the Storm (1988), Kill Me Again (1989), Blood Red (1989), The End of Innocence (1990), Fatal Instinct (1991), The Doors (1991), Thelma and Louise (1991), Beyond the Law (1992), Straight Talk (1992), Inside Edge (1993), Trouble Bound (1993), Free Willy (1993), Money for Nothing (1993), The Getaway (1994), Wyatt Earp (1994), Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995), Red Line (1996), The Last Days of Frankie the Fly (1997), Donnie Brasco (1997), Executive Target (1997), The Thief and the Stripper (1998), Species II (1998), The Inspectors 2: A Shred of Evidence (2001), Outlaw (2001), Pressure Point (2001), L.A.P.D.: To Protect and to Serve (2001), Vampires Anonymous (2003), Sin City (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia (2005), Scary Movie 4 (2006), A Way With Murder (2009), and The Killing Jar (2009).
BEAT POETRY. While waiting in the middle of a film shoot, Michael developed his talent for words, and even poetry. He would write everywhere and on anything: hotel stationary, table napkins from the nearest café, and on match books.
The accumulated volume of writings has produced a collection of books containing Michael's poetry—The Complete Poetic Works of Michael Madsen, Vol. 1: 1995-2001, Beer, Blood and Ashes (1995), Eat The Worm (1995), Burning in Paradise (1998), A Blessing of the Hounds (2002), 46 Down: A Book of Dreams and Other Ramblings (2004), and When Pets Kill (2005).
Michael's style as a writer has often been compared to the so-called Beat Generation style of poetry, which is described as spontaneous, rebellious, openly expressive, and sometimes obscene.
The Beat Generation, along with their unconventional style of literature, gained attention in the 1950s and many observers credit the movement for engineering the counterculture phenomenon of the '60s.
As for Michael's poetry, friends and critics mention the actor's writings in the same breath as that of Beat Generation figurehead, Jack Kerouac—the brilliant yet troubled novelist whose groundbreaking novel On The Road catapulted him to literary legend status.
"Dennis Hopper compared me to Jack Kerouac and that was a complimentary thing to say," Michael told PEP (Philippine Entertainment Portal) over a glass of wine.
"I was very flattered by that. I'm pretty hard about myself critic-wise on anything I write or a motion picture I did. But yeah, it was a huge honor to be compared with Kerouac."
Ever thought of playing a poet on screen?
"I would love to play Kerouac!" replied Michael. "I would also love to play Charlie Bukowski, but it's already been done. Mickey Rourke did it and he did a great job in Barfly [1987]. It's not good to do these things over and over, and there are not too many poets that I could get away playing with."