Quentin Tarantino remembers Michael Madsen thanking him after firing Lawrence Tierney from Reservoir Dogs

Are you gonna bark all day, little doggy, or are you gonna bite? Well, when Reservoir Dogs co-star Lawrence Tierney barked a little too much early into filming, director Quentin Tarantino bit back. And when it came down to it, Tarantino had to fire the burly actor, finding respect from plenty of people who had witnessed Tierney’s behavior – including Michael Madsen.

As Tarantino recently recalled at a ceremony at the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles as part of a tribute to Madsen, “Lawrence Tierney was a f*cking nightmare. He was completely insane…All of a sudden, he f*cking yells at me or something. He does something disrespectful…This time he meant it…[So I said,] ‘F*ck you, you fat f*cking piece of shit. You’re f*cking fired!”…The crew breaks into applause!”

At that point, despite the shot of adrenaline Tarantino got from standing up to someone who had been a tyrant for the entire first week of shooting, he had a strong feeling that production company Live Entertainment would can him, thus robbing independent cinema of Reservoir Dogs. Even with that hanging over his head, he got ready to hit the bar to celebrate the end of the shooting week, as would be tradition. But as he was getting dressed, he got a phone call that he let go to message. “It was Michael. He was there at the table [where Tarantino fired Tierney], all the Dogs were at the table. “Yeah, Quint…I was just calling you to say I really respect what you did. It was important, it needed to be done. He was busting your balls and you had to do it…And I respect that as my director…I respect it as a director, I respect it as a captain. And I respect it as a man. Know I’m on your side, buddy. Thanks.”

And Quentin Tarantino and Michael Madsen would be on each other’s side for the rest of the latter’s life, not just teaming up on a handful of other movies – including QT’s most recent, Once Upon a Tie in Hollywood – but also championing one another’s careers for decades after the Reservoir Dogs showdown. And Tarantino is still doing it, just this week dishing out his 10 favorite Michael Madsen movies, shows and performances.

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