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Sure, he's got more than 38 movie under his belt (including such Oscar-nominated humdingers as Donnie Brasco and Thelma & Louise) and is widely recognized as the big screen's brooding character actor extraordinaire. That doesn't mean Michael Madsen is too cool for an arena snobbishly referred to as feature film's stepchild.
''This thing came to me and I didn't give a damn whether it was TV or not,'' the actor says in the seductive growl he employed to such menacing effect in Reservoir Dogs. ''I thought it was a good premise and character.'' Madsen plays the mysterious Mr. Chapel, a loner who, like Dellaventura and the Equalizer before him, brings justice to those who have been wronged by criminal scum. The twist? Chapel concocts elaborate, sadistic schemes to force said criminal scum (from a murderous wealthy exec to a corrupt small-town sheriff) to confess. While the shadowy Mr. Chapel comes across as a loose cannon in Vengeance's pilot, Madsen insists his character is not a lunatic.
''I'm not shooting anybody, I'm not killing anybody,'' he says. ''If he was walking around with a glock in one hand and a .45 in the other, then you'd say, 'Wow. This f -- -in' guy is f -- -in' nuts!'''
Maybe it's executive producer John McNamara who's #*%! nuts. He's the same guy who signed with ABC just months after the network unceremoniously dumped his campy Spy Game after three episodes last year. And now they've given his show one the most dreaded time slots. ''It hasn't bothered me that much because I think every night on ABC is a hard night,'' says McNamara. ''That's not to knock ABC. I think they're fighting back.'' BOTTOM LINE Madsen has a slow-burn charm, and this violent, low-rent production could be the ticket for those seeking an alternative to the urban slick of NBC's Thursday juggernaut.
