Virginia Madsen

Official Website
11 Dec 2010

Children’s Action Network Holiday Party: Celebrity Wreaths for Sale

Small children were working intently on homemade wreaths with tree limbs, glitter, ribbon, and glue. Entertainment industry figures mingled, flirted, and networked nearby, sipping cocktails and munching on catered treats on the deck of a gorgeous Bel-Air home. The event centered around a silent auction for the Children’s Action Network, an organization that provides scholarships, resources, and raises awareness for foster care adoptions in the United States. The organization is also responsible for presenting CBS’s annual Home for the Holidays special, an hour-long concert interwoven with stories of foster care adoption.

Foster care advocate and Sideways actress Virginia Madsen was also there to lend her support to the organization, and spoke openly about how she considered adopting a child through the foster care system. Though she ended up deciding not to go that route in the end, Madsen’s certification as a foster care parent made her a strong advocate for the “fost-adopt” process. She described attending an adoption ceremony for 130 children in Los Angeles with her friend Nia Vardalos (who underwent the fost-adopt process last year): “It was so heart-wrenching. It was so moving. I couldn’t stop crying the whole day… As cynical as people can get about this world and where we’re going, when you see people really putting themselves out there, to get so deeply involved in a child that they would adopt them and bring them into their family–I don’t know how to describe it. It was extraordinary.”

30 Sep 2010

Virginia to attend Savannah Film Festival

The Savannah Film Festival is currently scheduled to host Academy Award-nominated actress Virginia Madsen, who will present the documentary “I Know a Woman Like That,” directed by her mother Elaine Madsen, who will also be in attendance.

Liam Neeson, Sir Ian McKellen and Isabella Rossellini will be honored as part of the 13th Annual Savannah Film Festival, which will take place Oct. 30 to Nov. 6.

17 Jul 2010

LA Times – The Sunday Conversation: Virginia Madsen

Virginia Madsen, 48, plays married-to-the-mini-mob mom Cheryl West who tries to make her family go straight in “Scoundrels,” ABC’s new summer dramedy in ” Desperate Housewives'” Sunday evening slot. The veteran film actress talks about why network television has been a great place to land at this point in her career — much to her own surprise.

How did your role in “Scoundrels” come about?

I did a series with Ray Liotta called “Smith.” That was three or four years ago, and that was canceled right away. It was another show of criminals, but it was real bad guys — larceny, murder and explosions and all this stuff. It just wasn’t, for either one of us, creatively satisfying. So it was like, OK, I tried that, I’m not interested in that anymore.

So when this show came along I was like, I don’t know about network TV. I have friends who work on shows like that, and they were like, ‘Oh, my God, you don’t want to do this job.’ The hours are insane. And network TV is very corporate — you’re very much a hired hand. I just put all the negatives on the table.

So it was a leap of faith. And man, it paid off. Because I had so much fun making this show. I found my hours weren’t crazy. My favorite way to work is in an ensemble. When I was doing lead roles, when I was an ingénue, that wasn’t a comfortable place for me to be. I don’t necessarily need to be the star. And when you work in an ensemble, it’s exciting and it’s fun and it’s creative, and I work really well as a team. I like the family feeling. Continue Reading