This must feel familiar. Actor Michael Madsen was charged on Wednesday, April 24, with two misdemeanor counts of drunken driving, according to the Associated Press. The charges come after the Kill Bill star, 61, was arrested after hitting a pole while driving his Land Rover in Malibu, California, on March 24.
No one was hurt in the incident.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said that the actor has been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol within 10 years of another DUI, and also driving with a .08 percent blood alcohol content within a decade of another DUI.
Per the AP, the actor, who is set to star in this summer’s Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and is currently working in Europe, has not yet entered a plea. His court date is set for May 20.
Perry C. Wander, the attorney representing Madsen, told the AP that the actor has been using alcohol to deal with stress.
“Dealing with the fact that being famous and having money does not bring happiness presents very difficult challenges that are often dealt with through self-medication,” Wander told the AP of his client. “Michael has a lot of insight into his situation and is going to take this matter very seriously.”
The actor, who has been a staple in Tarantino’s films, was previously arrested twice in 2012 for incidents involving alcohol. In March that year, detectives said that Madsen got into a drunken brawl with his teenage son at their Malibu home.
Then in September, The Reservoir Dogs actor was pulled over for driving erratically on the Pacific Coast Highway in the afternoon. He was found to have a blood alcohol level of .21, more than twice the legal limit, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
