At a Glance
- Michael Madsen died of cardiac arrest on July 3, 2025, after battling alcoholism
- His son Hudson, an Army sergeant, died by suicide in January 2022
- Virginia Madsen honors both in her new film Sheepdog, opening January 16
**Why it matters: The story highlights the toll of addiction and PTSD on military families.
Virginia Madsen is breaking her silence on the losses that have reshaped her family: her brother Michael’s death from cardiac arrest and her nephew Hudson’s suicide.
“Bigger Than Life”
“He was bigger than life, over six feet tall and barrel-chested,” Virginia says of Michael. “You could hear him coming in the room with his cowboy boots before he got there.”
She pictured him as an old man spinning yarns with a cigar. That vision ended on July 3, 2025, when the Kill Bill and Reservoir Dogs star died at 67.
A Son Lost
Three years earlier, Michael’s 26-year-old son Hudson ended his life with a self-inflicted gunshot. The Army sergeant had served in Afghanistan and been stationed in Oahu with his wife Carlie.
Virginia channeled her grief into Sheepdog, a drama about veterans battling PTSD. She plays a therapist treating returning soldiers.
“I made this film to honor him,” she says of Hudson. “He was on my mind every moment of every day.”
Director Steven Grayhm wrote the script and stars as the lead. Virginia signed on after Grayhm’s years of veteran outreach and with her family’s support.
“I just felt the need for this to be more of a conversation in our country,” she says. “I felt driven to tell their stories.”
Addiction’s Toll
Virginia admits gaps remain in what the family knows about Hudson’s struggles.
“That’s one of the things that he carried alone,” she says. “I wish he could have been home and able to get help.”
The loss devastated Hudson’s parents and six siblings. Communication with Michael deteriorated.
“It was impossible to talk to my brother about it. He was just shut down,” Virginia recalls. “Addiction will do everything it can to separate loved ones from the person who’s suffering.”
Michael tried repeatedly to recover, she says, “until he just got farther and farther away.”
A Peaceful End
When Michael’s heart stopped, Virginia felt a grim relief.
“And so when he died, it wasn’t a surprise,” she says. “He was no longer in pain. He was no longer suffering.”
Her 94-year-old mother sensed Michael finally found peace.
Holiday Healing
Over the holidays, Michael’s children gathered at Virginia’s home. Laughter returned, along with stories beyond the wild antics for which Michael was known.
“There began to be this really intense bonding of all the family together,” she says.
She reassures her nephews that their father lives on through them.
“The best sides of him are a part of who his sons are,” she says. “They look at the sunset the way he did. In that way, there are parts of him that will never be gone.”
Sheepdog opens in theaters January 16.
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