Vancouverscape, a Vancouver based blog covering travel, tech, and lifestyle

Michael Madsen’s starred in everything from Reservoir Dogs to Free Willy. To Alec Baldwin, he’s “one of the greatest actors we’ve seen, because he’s just the right amount of crazy.”

Quentin Tarantino calls him a throwback whose gravitas puts him in league with Harvey Keitel, Sean Penn and Laurence Fishburne. Now Michael Madsen tells stories of Hollywood old and new to his Straw Hut Media podcast American Badass, whose first episode dropped just last week, as part of an emerging group of Straw Hut Media podcasters.

The son of a Chicago firefighter, Madsen brings a wry Everyman’s perspective to his observations of an industry that can seem a bit unreal. In each unbridled episode, Madsen shares his candid takes on Hollywood, revealing the little triumphs and hidden struggles behind the world’s most influential dream machine.

He also shares stories and insights from a career that spans over 200 movies, and brings along some friends: Veteran actors Bruce Dern, Billy Baldwin and Tom Arnold trade stories with Madsen in the podcast’s first three episodes.

“American Badass” may just as well describe many of the characters Madsen has portrayed over the years, but it’s also the title of one of his many books of poetry. His wit, honesty and nuanced observations of Hollywood over the years make American Badass a rollicking and revealing trip.