The thinking man's tough guy on the enduring allure of tattoos, Jennifer Tilly and the sharkskin suit
PLAYBOY: Your former wife's name is tattooed on your arm. Did you think your marriage would last forever? Are you a candidate for laser removal?
MADSEN: A tattoo is something that seems like a good idea at the time. I think of tattoos as scars more than as pictures. It's a picture in your flesh that represents a certain point of your life. I don't see the point in removing them. Mine are 14 years old. I might cover them up with something that's easier to look at -- ocean waves, a Vargas girl -- but taking them off is stupid. My advice is, don't get any tattoos. Why? So one day you don't have to answer questions about them [laughs]. A lot of my buddies got 'em. Some of them are good, some of them are bad. You have to have nice work. You have to think about it. You don't want to let some hack carve it into your skin. And you had better like what you get. It's a funny thing, a tattoo. It's painful. It hurts to get the damn things. But I mean, what doesn't? Tattoos are the least of it.