Christian Lucas Madsen is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Divergent'' (2014) and ''

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

'' (2013).

Life and career

Christian Madsen was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to actors

Michael Madsen Michael Søren Madsen (born September 25, 1957) is an American actor. He has starred in many films and television series, frequently collaborating with director Quentin Tarantino, most famously in the latter's debut film '' Reservoir Dogs'' (1 ...

and Jeannine Bisignano. His aunt is actress

Virginia Madsen Virginia Gayle Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress and film producer. She made her film debut in ''Class'' (1983), which was filmed in her native Chicago. After she moved to Los Angeles, director David Lynch cast her as Pr ...

and his grandmother is filmmaker and author Elaine Madsen. He began acting at the age of ten, when he appeared in a small role in one of his father's films, and spent time on the set of a number of other films, including ''

Free Willy ''Free Willy'' is a 1993 American family drama film, directed by Simon Wincer, produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Jennie Lew Tugend, written by Keith A. Walker and Corey Blechman from a story by Walker and distributed by Warner Bros. Picture ...

'' and '' The Getaway''. His grandmother, filmmaker Elaine Madsen, encouraged him to pursue a career in acting after watching his performances in high school theater. His parents divorced when he was a child and he subsequently "bounced around a lot" between his parents' homes in Malibu, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Fe, and

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

. He eventually moved in with his grandmother when he was 17, and she took him to the Actors Studio and introduced him to the head of its Hollywood branch,

Martin Landau Martin James Landau (; June 20, 1928 – July 15, 2017) was an American actor, acting coach, producer, and editorial cartoonist. His career began in the 1950s, with early film appearances including a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's ''North ...

. Madsen's early film career consisted mainly of small roles with his father and independent films. He took on other jobs while continuing to audition for acting roles. He had been auditioning without any successes for over two years and was about to be evicted from his Los Angeles apartment when he won a role in '' Divergent'', a film adaptation of

Veronica Roth Veronica Anne Roth (born August 19, 1988) is an American novelist and short story writer, known for her bestselling ''Divergent'' trilogy which has sold more than 35 million copies worldwide. Personal life Veronica Roth was born on August 19, ...

's young adult novel of the same name. After filming ''Divergent'', Madsen was cast in the lead role of the independent film ''Prism'', in which he plays a young man who is reunited with his amnesiac father after 15 years. In 2013, he also appeared in ''

'', a drama film directed by

Gia Coppola Gian-Carla Coppola (born January 1, 1987) is an American film director and screenwriter. She is a granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola, the daughter of Jacqui de la Fontaine and Gian-Carlo Coppola and the niece of Roman Coppola and Sofia Co ...

, and he has been cast in ''Jack Squared''.

Filmography

* ''

'' (2013) as Anthony * '' Divergent'' (2014) as Albert * ''

King Jack ''King Jack'' is a 2015 American coming-of-age adventure drama film written and directed by Felix Thompson in his directorial debut. The film stars Charlie Plummer, Cory Nichols, Christian Madsen, Daniel Flaherty, Erin Davie and Chloe Levine, and ...

'' (2015) as Tom * ''Manson's Lost Girls'' (2016) as Tex Watson * ''

Mr. Church ''Mr. Church'' is a 2016 American drama film directed by Bruce Beresford and written by Susan McMartin. The film stars Eddie Murphy as the title character with Britt Robertson, Xavier Samuel, Lucy Fry, Christian Madsen and Natascha McElhone also ...

'' (2016) as Eddie Larson

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Madsen, Christian Living people Male actors from Los Angeles American male film actors American people of Danish descent People from Los Angeles 21st-century American male actors Year of birth missing (living people)