Michael Madsen reveals who he’s playing in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Writer/director Quentin Tarantino's latest film, ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD, is currently in production, recreating the look of 1969 on the streets of Los Angeles. Set "at the height of hippy Hollywood", the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as 

Rick Dalton (DiCaprio), former star of a Western TV series, and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt). Both are struggling to make it in a Hollywood they don’t recognize anymore. But Rick has a very famous next-door neighbor… Sharon Tate.

While we don't know all the details of the characters, we do know the names of most of the people the cast will be bringing to life. That includes Margot Robbie as actress and Manson Family victim Sharon Tate; Burt Reynolds as George Spahn, the man who owned the ranch the Manson Family lived on; Luke Perry as a character named Scotty Lancer; Clifton Collins Jr. as Ernesto the Mexican Vaquero; Keith Jefferson as Land Pirate Keith; 1970s TV Spider-Man Nicholas Hammond as real life actor/director Sam Wanamaker; Damian Lewis as iconic actor Steve McQueen; Dakota Fanning as Squeaky Fromme, "the Manson disciple who later tried to assassinate President Gerald Ford"; Emile Hirsch as Jay Sebring, a "Hollywood hairstylist who was one of four victims in the Tate murders on Cielo Drive"; Al Pacino as Rick's agent Marvin Schwarz; and Scoot McNairy as Western TV show cowboy Business Bob Gilbert.

But there are also a handful of actors who have been cast in unspecified roles. Those are Zoe Bell, Kurt Russell, Michael Madsen, Tim Roth, Timothy Olyphant, James Marsden, and Julia Butters.

Well, Michael Madsen's character can no longer be listed in the "unspecified" category. In an interview with Wingman Magazine, Madsen revealed that his character is part of the Western TV show Rick Dalton starred in. 

My character is the sheriff in the town where that show is. … So there's a lot of research that went into this. Quentin and I talk about TV Westerns until the end of time. If you bring up any episode of The Rifleman, even before you're finished describing the episode Quentin immediately knows what you're talking about. It's wonderful to talk to someone like that, especially these days because if you ask actors today if they've seen The Big Valley, they look at you and go, "What?"

Madsen also suggested that his son Christian Madsen should play Manson Family member Tex Watson in the film, since he already played him in the 2016 movie MANSON'S LOST GIRLS and did a great deal of research for the role, including exchanging letters with the real Tex.

I'm guessing characters like Ernesto the Mexican Vaquero and Land Pirate Keith are also part of the Western TV show with Madsen's sheriff and McNairy's Business Bob. I wouldn't be surprised if Zoe Bell is playing a stuntwoman who works on the show, but she could really show up anywhere in the film. It will be interesting to hear where all of the "unspecified" actors will fit in – Russell, Roth, Olyphant, and Marsden do all have experience playing cowboys / Old West characters.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD is set to reach theatres on August 9, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the Tate murders.