Christian Madsen

Christian Madsen was born in 1990 inLos Angelesto actorsMichael Madsenand Jeannine Bisignano. 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, includingFree WillyandThe 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 inMalibu, theSan Fernando Valley,Santa Fe, andMontana.He eventually moved in with his grandmother when he was 17, and she took him to theActors Studioand introduced him to the head of its Hollywood branch,Martin Landau. Madsen's early film career consisted mainly of small roles with his father andindependent films. He took on other jobs while continuing to audition for acting roles.He had been auditioning without any successes for over two yearsand was about to be evicted from his Los Angeles apartment when he won a role inDivergent, a film adaptation ofVeronica Roth's young adultnovel of the same name. After filmingDivergent, Madsen was cast in the lead role of the upcoming independent filmPrism, in which he plays a young man who is reunited with his amnesiac father after 15 years.In 2014, he also appeared inPalo Alto, a drama film directed byGia Coppola, and he has been cast inJack Squared.