Top 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsMost Popular Video GamesMost Popular Music VideosMost Popular Podcasts
    Release CalendarBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV NewsIndia TV Spotlight
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsBest Picture WinnersBest Picture WinnersEmmysSTARmeter AwardsSan Diego Comic-ConNew York Comic-ConSundance Film FestivalToronto Int'l Film FestivalAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • All
  • Titles
  • TV Episodes
  • Celebs
  • Companies
  • Keywords
  • Advanced Search
Watchlist
Sign In
Sign In
New Customer? Create account
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
  • Biography
  • Awards
  • Trivia
IMDbPro

Virginia Madsen

  • Actress
  • Producer
  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,000391
Virginia Madsen
A nun prepares to perform an exorcism and comes face to face with a demonic force with mysterious ties to her past.
Play trailer2:32
Prey for the Devil (2022)
99+ Videos
99+ Photos
One of the hottest stars of the mid-1980s, Virginia Madsen has since played a variety of roles that have cemented her reputation as a fantastic actress who can adapt to any part.

Virginia was born in Chicago, Illinois, and belongs to an acting family -- with her brother, Michael Madsen, also an actor, and her mother, Elaine Madsen (née Melson), an Emmy-winning writer, poet, and producer. Her paternal grandparents were Danish, and her father, Calvin Madsen, was a firefighter. Audiences first caught a glimpse of her as "Princess Irulan" in the 1984 science fiction epic Dune (1984). She followed that up with Electric Dreams (1984); however, it was in 1986 that Virginia captured the hearts of the audience with an intense portrayal of a Catholic school girl who fell in love with a boy from a prison camp in Duncan Gibbins' Fire with Fire (1986). Virginia played the role of "Lisa" and her co-star was Craig Sheffer, who played Lisa's love interest, "Joe Fisk". Kari Wuhrer also made an appearance as Virginia's best friend, "Gloria". Fire with Fire (1986) was a low-budget production, starring a bunch of fresh faces who were till then-unknown to Hollywood. However, the movie was a success and elevated its three young stars overnight. Virginia has never looked back since.

Not only did she receive amazing reviews for her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated performance in Alexander Payne's hit film, Sideways (2004), but this Independent Spirit Award-winning actress has an illustrious resume of roles alongside the most notable and respected actors in the business.

Also on Virginia's slate is her production company, with partner Karly Meola, called "Title IX Productions". Their first project was the documentary I Know a Woman Like That (2009), which previewed at the Phoenix Film Festival in April 2009 and premiered at the Chicago Film Festival in October 2009. The doc was directed by Virginia's mother, Elaine Madsen, about the lives of extraordinary women ages 64-94. Next in the company's lineup is the documentary Fighting Gravity (2010), about women ski jumpers' ongoing battle for the right to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Title IX will team up with "Empire 8 Productions" and Vancouver-based "Screen Siren" on the project. The duo also has several projects in development that they're shopping around for financing including screenwriters Sebastian Gutierrez's screen adaptation of Martha O'Connor's novel "The Bitch Posse" and a remake of the 1984 film Electric Dreams (1984), in which Virginia appeared.
BornSeptember 11, 1961
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornSeptember 11, 1961
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,000391
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar

Photos445

Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Virginia Madsen, Camryn Manheim, and Wanda Sykes in The Hot Flashes (2013)
Brooke Shields, Daryl Hannah, Virginia Madsen, Camryn Manheim, and Wanda Sykes in The Hot Flashes (2013)
Virginia Madsen and Lenny von Dohlen in Electric Dreams (1984)
Virginia Madsen in Dune (1984)
Virginia Madsen, José Ferrer, Kyle MacLachlan, Sting, Jack Nance, and Siân Phillips in Dune (1984)
Virginia Madsen in Dune (1984)
Harrison Ford and Virginia Madsen in Firewall (2006)
Virginia Madsen and Tony Todd in Candyman (1992)
Virginia Madsen and Adan Canto in Designated Survivor (2016)
Virginia Madsen and Kiefer Sutherland in Designated Survivor (2016)
Virginia Madsen and Adan Canto in Designated Survivor (2016)
Virginia Madsen and Adan Canto in Designated Survivor (2016)

Known for

Sideways (2004)
Sideways
7.5
  • Maya
  • 2004
Tony Todd in Candyman (1992)
Candyman
6.7
  • Helen Lyle
  • 1992
The Prophecy (1995)
The Prophecy
6.4
  • Katherine
  • 1995
The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
The Haunting in Connecticut
5.8
  • Sara Campbell
  • 2009

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • One Day as a Lion
    • Post-production
  • Obliterated
    • Post-production
  • Lola James
    • Post-production
  • Road to Capri
    • Pre-production
  • Resilient 3D
    • Pre-production
  • Sarah
    • Pre-production
  • Prey for the Devil (2022)
    Prey for the Devil
  • Give Me an A (2022)
    Give Me an A
  • Yahya Abdul-Mateen II in Candyman (2021)
    Candyman
    • (voice)
  • Kat Graham and Alexander Ludwig in Operation Christmas Drop (2020)
    Operation Christmas Drop
  • Derek Mears and Crystal Reed in Swamp Thing (2019)
    Swamp Thing
  • Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu in Elementary (2012)
    Elementary
  • Patrick Dempsey in The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair (2018)
    The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair
  • Spare Room (2018)
    Spare Room
  • Elisabeth Moss in Her Smell (2018)
    Her Smell
  • Virginia Madsen, Michael Chiklis, Jamie Chung, and Cory Michael Smith in 1985 (2018)
    1985
  • Voltron: Legendary Defender (2016)
    Voltron: Legendary Defender
    • (voice)
  • Kiefer Sutherland in Designated Survivor (2016)
    Designated Survivor
  • A Change of Heart (2017)
    A Change of Heart
  • Olivia DeJonge and Levi Miller in Better Watch Out (2016)
    Better Watch Out
  • Burn Your Maps (2016)
    Burn Your Maps

Producer

  • I Know a Woman Like That (2009)
    I Know a Woman Like That
  • Ripple Effect (2007)
    Ripple Effect

Additional Crew

  • Jean Harlow and Norma Shearer in Complicated Women (2003)
    Complicated Women
  • Quality Street (1927)
    Captured on Film: The True Story of Marion Davies
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos108

The Haunting in Connecticut
Clip 2:06
The Haunting in Connecticut
The Haunting in Connecticut: "Ghost Lights"
Clip 0:47
The Haunting in Connecticut: "Ghost Lights"
The Haunting in Connecticut: "Shower"
Clip 0:46
The Haunting in Connecticut: "Shower"
The Haunting in Connecticut: "Birds"
Clip 0:55
The Haunting in Connecticut: "Birds"
The Hot Spot
Clip 2:25
The Hot Spot
All the Wilderness
Clip 1:32
All the Wilderness
Jake Squared
Clip 1:33
Jake Squared
Ambushed
Clip 0:52
Ambushed
The Number 23
Clip 0:46
The Number 23
The Number 23
Clip 1:22
The Number 23
The Number 23
Clip 0:46
The Number 23
The Astronaut Farmer
Clip 1:02
The Astronaut Farmer

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • September 11, 1961
    • Chicago, Illinois, USA
    • Nick Holmes2020 - present
    • Jack Sabato
    • Elaine Madsen
    • Michael Madsen(Sibling)
  • Other works
    Appeared in Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" music video
  • Publicity listings
    • 4 Interviews
    • 5 Articles
    • 7 Pictorials
    • 5 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    In an interview, she admitted that she was sobbing so hard at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982) when Spock died, that she had to go home as soon as the movie was over. She would later star (no pun intended) in Unforgettable (1998)(#4.22).
  • Quotes
    When you say no a lot as an actor, you're going to go broke, and that's been the hardest thing to go through in the last 10 years. Being a single mother and having financial problems is a nightmare.

Related news

Contribute to this page

Suggest an edit or add missing content
  • Learn more about contributing
Edit page

More to explore

Recently viewed

Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
Get the IMDb App
  • Get the IMDb App
  • Help
  • Site Index
  • IMDbPro
  • Box Office Mojo
  • IMDb Developer
  • Press Room
  • Advertising
  • Jobs
  • Conditions of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Your Ads Privacy Choices
IMDb, an Amazon company

© 1990-2023 by IMDb.com, Inc.