Virginia Madsen is a talented actress who rose to fame in the mid-1980s and has since established herself as a versatile performer capable of taking on a wide range of roles.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, Virginia comes from an acting family, with her brother Michael Madsen also an actor, and her mother Elaine Madsen, an Emmy-winning writer, poet, and producer. Her paternal grandparents were Danish, and her father Calvin Madsen was a firefighter.
Virginia's early film credits include Princess Irulan in the 1984 science fiction epic Dune and Electric Dreams, a 1984 film in which she appeared alongside her future co-star Craig Sheffer. However, it was her intense portrayal of a Catholic school girl who falls in love with a boy from a prison camp in Duncan Gibbins' Fire with Fire (1986) that truly captured the hearts of audiences.
The low-budget production, which co-starred Kari Wuhrer and Craig Sheffer, was a surprise hit and catapulted its young stars, including Virginia, to overnight fame.
Virginia's subsequent career has been marked by a string of critically acclaimed performances, including her Academy Award and Golden Globe-nominated role in Alexander Payne's Sideways (2004). She has also been recognized with an Independent Spirit Award and has worked alongside some of the most respected actors in the industry.
In addition to her acting career, Virginia is also the co-founder of Title IX Productions, a production company she runs with partner Karly Meola. The company's first project was the documentary I Know a Woman Like That (2009),which premiered at the Chicago Film Festival and was directed by Virginia's mother Elaine Madsen.
Virginia's production company has also announced several upcoming projects, including the documentary Fighting Gravity (2010),which follows the story of women ski jumpers' fight for the right to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
