It was arguably the most gruesome and memorable movie scene in modern cinema -and actor Kirk Baltz had a front row seat.
He played captured Officer Marvin Nash in Quentin Tarantino’s debut film Reservoir Dogs.
In one unforgettable sequence the cop was sat in a chair by his captors, chastised and tortured before having his ear sliced off with a razor.
The gory scene, which caused outrage at the time of its release in 1992, shows gangster Mr Blonde, played by Michael Masden, pouring gasoline on top of Nash, before pulling out his cigarette lighter.
And in the 25th anniversary year of the movie, Baltz recalls the incredible experience of working on one of Tarantino’s most iconic films.
Kirk Baltz, who played Officer Marvin Nash, says he is still asked about the iconic torture scene in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 film Reservoir Dogs
Baltz, 58, was sat in a chair by his captors, chastised, and tortured before having his ear sliced off with a razor in the grisly scene, but he says he had a ‘blast’ shooting the violent movie
He also shares never-before-seen Polaroid shots of working on set with the director and co-stars Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, and Harvey Keitel.
Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com Baltz, 58, admits he loves to make light of the ear slicing scene, as a group of professional gangsters dealt with the fall out of a botched diamond heist in Los Angeles.
The actor now jokes about the role by telling strangers: ‘I’m okay. I am fine now. It grew back.’
And he recalls how he ‘had a blast’ on set, laughing and smiling his way through a scene that had most viewers grimacing.
Baltz said: ‘I think everywhere I go I get asked about that scene – and I am really lucky because not many actors can say that they appeared in a scene that is remembered by so many.
‘It is incredible that 25 years on it still stands up so well as a great piece of film.
‘The ear cutting scene was all down to Quentin. It is horrific what the cop endures, but Mr Blonde is actually having the time of his life torturing this guy – no one had ever seen that type of drama on screen before.
‘I felt lucky that I was in the movie at all, as I was so green compared to the stars I was acting alongside.
‘The physical side of things was fun, but trying to step into the shoes of the character with these incredibly talented actors was pretty f***ing terrifying. But the way Quentin set up the shoot, it was really fun to do, very liberating for an actor and we had a few laughs too. I am very proud of that.’
The actor had his ear sliced off by gangster Mr Blonde – played by Michael Masden (pictured) Baltz reveals his secret improvised line comes into play when he pleas with Mr Blonde to spare his life
The gory scene caused a stir at the time of the film’s release with censors calling for it to be removed or the crime thriller be banned
Baltz shared never-before-seen polaroids from the film (pictured) and revealed he improvised a line during the scene, which he says, Tarantino loved
The actor carved through a successful career in Hollywood starring in over 60 productions, including blockbusters like Dances with Wolves and Face/Off alongside John Travolta and Nicolas Cage.
But he’ll forever be remembered as the unlucky cop in Reservoir Dogs.
Even after a quarter of a century Baltz never gets bored of people asking him about the movie.
With just a $1.2million budget, Tarantino’s first major film saw him write, direct, and even act on the project.
The director decided to have the cast do a read-through of the scene without any physical action beforehand.
Baltz felt that decision proved the key to creating on screen magic.
And he is proud too of adding his own line, which he says, Tarantino loved.
‘He shot the whole thing in sequence, which made it feel like we were performing a play,’ he said.
‘The sense of having to get it right in that moment lifted everyone’s performance and energy as after each take the crew would clap at what we did.
‘When you’re surrounded by that much talent all at once, it’s a picnic.’
The spine-chilling scene shows Nash being taken hostage by the gang, who punch and kick him, before tying him to a chair.
Bravely, the bruised officer utters: ‘You can torture me all you want.’
Nash has his mouth taped shut by Mr Blonde, who then pulls out a razor blade from his leather boot.
The film, Tarantino’s major film debut starring Michael Madsen, Harvey Keitel, Chris Penn, Lawrence Tierney, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, and Eddie Bunker, reached commercial success earning a massive $300M with a budget of $1.2M
In a behind the scenes Polaroid, Michael Madsen flashes a smile while being covered in blood
Baltz revealed he suffered a blow to the face after Steve Buscemi (left) who played Mr Pink, became so engaged in roughing up Nash that he landed a real punch straight into Baltz’s cheek. Tarantino (right) starred in his own major film debut as Mr Brown
It is in this scene when the gangster switches on the radio and sings and dances to Steelers Wheels’s 1973 song Stuck In The Middle You as he tortures his victim.
The song, first popular in the 1970s, became iconic after being featured in the film.
Blonde screams ‘hold still you f***’, while the camera pulls away from the amputation and then moves around the room to see Blonde holding the severed ear.
He adds: ‘Is that as good for me as it was for you?’
He then starts talking to the ear, tosses it aside and pours gasoline on Nash.
Baltz reveals his secret improvised line comes into play when he pleas with Mr Blonde to spare his life.
After Mr Blonde pulls the tape off, Nash screams: ‘Stop. Don’t do this, please. Don’t do this please. Don’t burn me. I got a little kid.’
He prepares to light up the officer, but he is shot by Mr Orange, played by Tim Roth.
Smiling Baltz says: ‘The moment Michael stops acting crazy is when I said: “I have a son,” that was my line and not in the original script, but Quentin loved it.
With just a $1.2million budget, Tarantino’s first major film saw him write, direct, and even act on the project
‘I feel that he felt Michael and I may had become a little pally during rehearsals, so before the take Quentin said to me: “I want you to get Michael to stop, you know? Just make him stop. Don’t let him kill you.”
‘Michael just had a son and I thought if I bring up something to do with family that could do it, he had no idea I was going to yell that.
‘So we shot it and I spat out, “Stop, I have a son,” which caught Michael so off guard he just stopped cold.
‘He looked at Quentin, who smiled back; he had done his work.
‘Michael may play the tough guy so much, but he has a soft spot.
‘Quentin loved it so much it stayed.’
As for Madsen’s memorable performance while dancing to Stuck In the Middle with You, Baltz recalls: ‘It was mind-blowing seeing a master at work in that scene. It could have looked stupid, but with Quentin’s direction and Michael’s performance it was that dance that had the audience believing he was psychotic and about to commit murder.
‘To do what he did to a cop is every bad guy’s fantasy and everybody has a got a bit of bad guy in them – he made us believe it was real.’
But even 25 years later, the song still follows him around, he says.
‘Once in a while my kids will get p****d off with me and they’ll put that song on,’ he said.
‘I’ve walked into a party more than once and the DJ has put it on, and then I just want to walk away.
Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen, Quentin Tarantino, Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth at the Reservoir Dogs’ 25th Anniversary screening Tribeca Film Festival in April
‘It’s a popular song and I think it’s okay for people to keep loving it, just so long as they’re not holding a straight razor in their hand while they’re dancing to it, you know?’ he quipped.
Baltz said it was a ‘dream cast’ to work with but admits he ‘just grabbed onto their coat tails and hung on and was like, “Let’s go!”
Although the film caused a stir upon it’s release, causing some censors to demand the scene to be removed or the crime thriller be banned, Baltz said the controversey was the ‘greatest compliment.’
‘I remember the headlines were about people being sick, or walking out of screenings because of the intensity. It was the greatest compliment,’ he said.
And although the film’s realistic violent scenes were created with Hollywood magic, he admits he did suffer a blow to the face thanks to a fired up Steve Buscemi in an earlier take.
The star, playing Mr Pink, became so engaged in roughing up Nash that he landed a real punch straight into Baltz’s cheek.
‘At the beginning of the warehouse scene, Harvey and Steve are punching and kicking me. All of adrenaline was really fired up as we wanted to really channel the anger of their characters failing the robbery.
‘And somehow Steve just let a punch rip, and hit me square. Immediately he apologized and could’t have been nicer. Actually, my adrenaline meant I didn’t even feel it.’
A decade later, Baltz discovered where the only memento he had hoped for from the film was being kept.
‘I bumped into Chris (Penn), who told me he had my prosthetic ear in a shoe box on the top of his closet. I thought that was funny. I thought it had been thrown away.
‘He never offered to give it back to me though, and since his death in 2006 I have no idea where it ended up.’
Reservoir Dogs, made for a relatively low $1.2million budget, has earned a massive $300million over the years through cinematic re-releases, video sales, streaming and on demand services.
Baltz said of the movie’s success: ‘Did I expect the movie to become as iconic as it is now? No, I didn’t, but I did know this – when I was reading Quentin’s script I knew I was holding something incredibly special in my hands. It was unique and original, and I knew that.’
Baltz, who lives in Los Angeles, is still a working actor and has just finished work on a terrifying horror short film called The Armoire, which has been nominated for awards across the world.