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" When you play a character that's someone real, when you're playing a true story, it's really great 'cause you're not pretending to make up some silly thing. "

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" 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. "

" 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. "

" I don't walk around the street thinking, 'I'm Michael Madsen,' but then again, I am that guy, and sometimes people do take notice of me. Sometimes it's really not comfortable. "

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

" 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. "

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" 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. "

" 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. "

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

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

" Well, one thing for sure, I won't be remembered for 'Free Willy.' Or maybe I will. "

" Is it really selling out if it feeds your family? "

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

" I didn't have much ambition, but I always had an idea in the back of my mind that I wanted to act. I would watch actors like Robert Mitchum, Humphrey Bogart, and Kirk Douglas, and I understood them. "

" My big ambition was to be Richard Petty. "

" I don't get the IMDb... I've called them several times myself and said, 'Guys, look... ' I've given them specific titles that should not be on there. But they won't take them down. "

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

" 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. "

" You know, every movie you make can't be great, no matter who you are. "

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

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

" 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. "

" 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. "

" I'm kind of hard to double, but I did have one guy for a while as my double. I kind of like to do my own stunts, though, because it's just the overall experience. Sometimes you have to step aside when the stuff gets really dangerous, but I feel like sometimes you have to do your own stunts to make the role seem real. "

" People have been afraid of me because of the parts I played. Nobody remembers that I was the dad in 'Free Willy.' "

" I swim a lot, almost every day. I just go out to the beach by my place in Malibu and jump into the ocean. "

" I wrote a poem on my leg once, on the skin. "

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

" I don't know if there's anything sadder than an actor who hasn't made a good picture, and at least I got a few good ones that will stand the test of time. I feel very fortunate about that. "

" I've had a lot more good luck than bad, and I've made a lot more good pictures than bad ones, and I'm pretty happy with what I have. I don't walk around regretting too many things. "

" 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. "