Christian Madsen was born in 1990 in Los Angeles, the son of actors Michael Madsen and Jeannine Bisignano. He began his acting career at the tender age of ten, making a small appearance in one of his father's films, and subsequently spent time on the sets of various other films, including Free Willy and The Getaway.
His grandmother, filmmaker Elaine Madsen, played a significant role in encouraging him to pursue a career in acting after witnessing his performances in high school theater. Unfortunately, his parents divorced when he was a child, and he spent his formative years "bouncing around a lot" between his parents' homes in Malibu, the San Fernando Valley, Santa Fe, and Montana.
At the age of 17, Madsen moved in with his grandmother, who introduced him to the Actors Studio and its Hollywood branch, where he met Martin Landau. His early film career consisted mainly of small roles alongside his father and in independent films. To make ends meet, he took on other jobs while continuing to audition for acting roles.
For over two years, Madsen auditioned without success, and was on the verge of being evicted from his Los Angeles apartment when he landed a role in Divergent, a film adaptation of Veronica Roth's young adult novel of the same name. Following his success in Divergent, Madsen was cast in the lead role of the upcoming independent film Prism, in which he plays a young man who is reunited with his amnesiac father after 15 years.
In 2014, Madsen appeared in Palo Alto, a drama film directed by Gia Coppola, and has been cast in Jack Squared.
