With two films opening up on the same day, people might start thinking Virginia Madsen’s new lucky number is 23. After all, one of the films is called “The Number 23,” the other being “The Astronaut Farmer.” “I stayed away from that whole enigma,” Madsen says. I’m not superstitious about anything, though I don’t try and tempt the fates.”
“The Astronaut Farmer” is a family drama about Charles Farmer (Billy Bob Thornton) attempting to build a rocket and orbit the Earth. “The Number 23” is a thriller starring Jim Carrey about a family man who becomes obsessed with the number 23.
”It’s so bizarre, I’m competing against myself,” she says. “But these are two such different films.”
In both films, she plays a wife and mother, supportive of her husband’s passion/obsession. But the similarities end there. And in “The Number 23,” she gets to play a duel role of Fabrizia, easily described as ... a sexpot.
But now the Chicago native is in town to promote “The Astronaut Farmer” and sat down at the Peninsula Hotel with her co-star Billy Bob Thornton.
“We get to be rock stars for a month, traveling city to city,” Madsen says. “And I get to spend all this time with (Thornton).”
The Polish brothers (the writers and directors of “The Astronaut Farmer”) sent Madsen the script while she was on vacation in Hawaii.
“We didn’t know who we were going to cast,” Mark Polish says. “We just knew we wanted a really strong actress.”
What put her back on the map was 2003’s hit “Sideways,” in which she played Maya, the love interest of Miles (Paul Giamatti). She won a Chicago Film Association Award for that role and was nominated for an Oscar as well.
She started getting work in TV and film in the mid ’80s, notably in “Dune” and “The Hot Spot.” It is said Madsen’s older brother Michael Madsen (“Reservoir Dogs,” “Kill Bill”) won’t watch a film like “The Hot Spot” because of his sister’s nudity.
Virginia Madsen was able to get a great introduction to acting while attending New Trier High School.
“We rented our costumes from Broadway,” Madsen says. “And we had makeup artists for our plays.”
Though she didn’t star in many plays and mainly worked on the crew, Madsen felt it was great experience. She was back at the school recently being honored as distinguished alum.
“I was like, I barely graduated,” she says.
Now, she gives back to the school in a variety of ways, including speaking to the theater department.
In the film “The Astronaut Farmer,” Madsen’s character has to deal with Farmer’s obsession with building a rocket, which includes pulling the children out of school.
“I like to think this character was just me under different circumstances,” she says. “I hope I would be with a man that believed in his dream that much and was willing to work that hard.”
Madsen doesn’t mind the supportive role.
”I don’t look for leading roles,” she says. “I don’t need to headline a film, I just look for good material.”
Her favorite roles come from working with an ensemble; working with a team makes her happy.
As for the chemistry between Thornton and Madsen, they were originally going to do the interview separately, but then they decided to do them together. And there was a joke about whether or not Thornton popped the question yesterday. The story goes (both actors were laughing while telling it) that Thornton had a real cheap ring and tried to give it to her, and she refused, so he went out in Detroit (their previous tour stop) to find a ring.
“I still haven’t accepted,” she says, continuing to grin.
If there is any truth to the tale, Thornton should be prepared to have a talk with older brother Michael. If his off-screen personality is anything like the intimidating men he plays on the big screen, Thornton will have his work cut out for him.