Movies - TV
Getting 'Accidentally' Cast In War Games Made Michael Madsen Into An Actor
By DREW TINNIN
Michael Madsen was working as an auto mechanic in Chicago when a chance encounter with filmmaker Martin Brest landed him a small role as a soldier in "Wargames." "I didn't know I was going to be an actor. I had no notion of actually being able to do that. I was a blue-collar kid from Chicago," Madsen confessed.
Madsen reminisced about landing the role entirely by chance, saying "I was going to school to be a paramedic and a friend of mine was an actor in my class, and he took me to an audition he was going to. I just went in with him accidentally because we were hanging out." Madsen met Brest at the audition and "got invited to California to play the soldier."
However, Brest was technically uncredited as the director of "Wargames," and got replaced by John Badham after United Artists fired him because they were reportedly not happy with the footage he had already shot. Luckily for Madsen, his part ended up in the finished film, which encouraged him to move to California and pursue acting.