Earlier this week I had the pleasure of interviewing Tony Todd while he was on the set of his latest feature, The Cold Descent. This got me thinking, has the other star of Candyman – Virginia Madsen – continued to be a household name after the iconic 1992 film? Has she ever returned to horror? You’re about to find out!
Virginia Madsen was born in September 1961 in Chicago, Illinois. At the age of 22 she booked her first role, a small part as “Lisa” in comedy Class. Within a year, though, she proved to be an actress to look out for when she landed the supporting role of Princess Irulan in the Oscar Nominated scifi-thriller, Dune (1984). She continued to work in the horror and science fiction genre with titles such as Creator (1985) and Zombie High (1987), while also venturing into other territories like mysteries and thrillers with Slam Dance (1987) and Highlander II: The Quickening (1991).
Cult horror fame struck when she received the lead role of “Helen” in Candyman (1992). In Candyman, Helen is a soon to be college graduate writing her thesis paper on urban legends. Little does she know, she’s about to come face to face with the inspiration of her paper…a legendary, supernatural force with a hook for a hand. Following Candyman, Madsen continued to work but nothing really appealed to horror fans until The Prophecy in 1995. Then, Madsen jumped into worldwide, mainstream fame when she played lead roles in 2x Oscar Nominated Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) and Golden Globe Nominated The Rainmaker (1997). Following these accomplishments, she appeared alongside other Hollywood megastars in horror’s The Haunting in 1999.
Her first big role of the new millennium was a lead, recurring role on “American Dreams” from 2002-2003. In 2004, Virginia was the lead actress in Sideways. Sideways was an Oscar Winning film, which also saw Virginia nominated for an Oscar for her performance and eventually won her a Golden Globe.
So, where is Virginia Madsen now?
Three decades later and her career is still going strong. She’s shown tremendous loyalty to the genres that made her famous by playing lead roles in The Number 23 (2007), The Haunting in Connecticut (2009), and Red Riding Hood (2011). Her last big gig was a recurring role on Lifetime’s “Witches of East End” in 2013.
