Virginia Madsen & Danny Huston by Cesare Bonazza

Virginia Gayle Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress and film producer. She made her film debut in Class (1983), which was filmed in her native Chicago. After moving to Los Angeles, director David Lynch cast her as Princess Irulan in the science fiction film Dune (1984). Madsen then starred in a series of successful teen movies, including Electric Dreams (1984), Modern Girls (1986), and Fire with Fire (1986).

Madsen received further recognition for her starring role as Helen Lyle in the horror film Candyman (1992). She received critical acclaim for her performance as Maya in Alexander Payne's comedy-drama film Sideways (2004), for which she received numerous awards, including nominations for the Golden Globe Award and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other film appearances include Long Gone (1987), Gotham (1988), The Hot Spot (1990), The Prophecy (1995), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), The Rainmaker (1997), The Haunting (1999), A Prairie Home Companion (2006), The Astronaut Farmer (2007), The Haunting in Connecticut (2009), Red Riding Hood (2011), All the Wilderness (2014), Joy (2015), Better Watch Out (2017), and Her Smell (2018).

On television, Madsen has appeared in the comedy-drama series Moonlighting (1989), the comedy series Frasier (1998), the period drama series American Dreams (2002–2003), the science fiction series The Event (2011), the supernatural drama series Witches of East End (2013–2014), the political thriller series Designated Survivor (2016–2017), and the DC Universe superhero horror series Swamp Thing (2019).