He Snubbed 'Pulp,' Wept Over 'Earp'

TOUGH guy actor Michael Madsen was reduced to tears after passing up John Travolta's career-resurrecting role in "Pulp Fiction" for a small part in stinker western "Wyatt Earp." "It was the stupidest decision of my life," Madsen tells Webster Hall curator Baird Jones. Madsen, who shot to fame as a sadistic thug in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs," said Tarantino "badly wanted me to be the star of 'Pulp Fiction' but I had been doing bad guys and I wanted to do a western." Madsen said he was promised the role of Doc Holliday that eventually went to Dennis Quaid, but instead was stuck with the smaller part of Wyatt's brother Virgil Earp. Madsen blamed director Lawrence Kasdan for bungling the movie: "I felt totally betrayed . . . All the roles were so simplified I just knew it was going to be a terrible cowboy movie . . . I knew that I had lost the best part that had ever been offered to me to join up with a stupid stinker that was certain to bomb. Every day I wept and wept, with tears streaming down my cheeks. I have never been so depressed. It was tough just to show up on the 'Earp' set. I wish I could say that I chose 'Wyatt Earp' over 'Pulp Fiction' because I sold out, but I ended up making zilch." While "Pulp Fiction" was a smash, "Wyatt Earp" was nominated for a Golden Raspberry for Worst Picture of 1994.