The Philippines is in his heart

MANILA, Philippines - Michael Madsen may be known worldwide as the sadistic Mr. Blonde in Quentin Tarantino’s gory Kill Bill. But off cam, the guy is as gentle as a summer breeze. He also doesn’t run out of superlatives about the Philippines and the friends he made here.

In Manila for the second time to promote his movie, Outrage, Madsen can’t shake off the memory of his dear friend, the late Cirio Santiago, who directed the actor in the unfinished film Road Raiders (renamed Water War).

“I’m gonna see Cirio’s urn. He was cremated,” Madsen announces.

The sentimental trip is not the only thing he is excited about. There’s Quezon’s famous lambanog, which Madsen asked Santiago about after fellow actor David Carradine swore by it.

He also remembers taking cup after cup of Gourmet’s Philippine Premium Coffee, a presentor in the recently-concluded red carpet premiere of Outrage.

But everything pales in comparison to the people he has met so far.

“I fell in love with the Philippines when I did a movie with Cirio,” recalls Madsen. “I miss my kids and family. But I love to travel and coming back to this place was pretty spiritual for me.”

Proving that he’s not paying the country and its people mere lip service, Madsen adds, “Hopefully, I can find some work and come back here. I even want to buy a place here, a residence here. I want to bring my sons here and give them a better education than what they’re getting in America.”

Madsen then points out big differences in the Filipino and American ways.

“The people here are very kind and gentle. Nobody seems to be mean and angry. In America, everybody’s got a certain hostility. There’s a prevailing cynicism in America. I don’t feel that here, ever, from anybody I think you’re a very spiritual people.”

Like most visiting foreigners, Madsen is aghast at the traffic-choked roads and how it makes vehicles move at a snail’s pace.

“Your country is not little to me,” he states. “It takes four hours to get around here for 10 miles. I don’t know what in the name of God that is.”

Madsen doesn’t take it against the Philippines, though. In fact, he calls himself lucky for “coming over here and being part of this industry.”

The star of Free Willy admits Hollywood is obsessed with “other people,” like Matthew McConaughey, Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis, etc., all younger than he is. And that’s why Madsen thinks indie films like Outrage is like sparkling water in a dry desert.

“It helps me pay rent and keep a roof over my kids’ heads,” he explains.

Madsen is also speaking for many Hollywood actors crass commercialism has rendered jobless.

“Independent films are very important. The whole movie industry in America is pretty much falling apart, and I think indie films are the only way someone can remain employed. Indie films give life to actors like me who aren’t necessarily considered to be in the studio lineup. I got to get work somewhere, and independent film is where it’s at,” he observes.

Madsen says that some of the good movies that came out were box-office failures. He ticks off titles: Wizard of Oz, It’s a Wonderful Life and High Noon.

“Even some of the movies that Ace (Cruz, producer of Outrage) and some of the things I’ve done will never have a chance in the regular mainstream. No studio will touch it because they’re scared. And I think independent filmmakers have more guts.”

Besides, he adds, getting financing for a movie is tough, these days.

Cruz refuses to let the tough times bring him down.

“It’s gonna help my career because it’s an advantage that the independent era is coming out. Everybody’s doing some distribution and doing some marketing. And they’re becoming better filmmakers. They have the tools that they didn’t have back then, 10 years ago.”

The Fil-Am producer has seen the handwriting on the wall. The indie era — with its power of bringing out the filmmaker in us — is here to stay.