You could do an interesting deep dive into actors who may or may not have portrayed Death, characters who may or may not have been Death, in movies and TV shows. In A Prairie Home Companion, Virginia Madsen is credited as “Dangerous Woman.” Wikipedia calls her an angel. Is she an angel? Is she Death? An argument could be made either way. Certainly it is true that, if she is Death, she is a compassionate version who takes an interest in those she ushers out of this mortal coil. She may even have overstepped her bounds over the course of the film. It’s hard to say. Still, it’s a great performance.
Madsen herself would likely be pleased to know that you thought of any performance of hers as great. She studied acting from a young age and took it quite seriously. It would frankly have been easy enough for her to coast—for a few years at least, and we’ll get to that—on just being a pretty face. But she said she wanted to make a real career of acting, and she really studied it. Yes, she has a pretty face, even now, but she’s also a skilled actress who does good work when she’s given the chance.
Depressingly little of her career is anything I want to watch. This isn’t just “I’m not really a horror person,” and feel free to rhapsodize about Candyman if you want, but it’s not my deal. No, this is a lot more “wow, a lot of this stuff looks pretty bad.” I’ve added The Witches of East End to my watchlist, because you’re absolutely right I will give a show about witches starring Mädchen Amick and Julia Ormond a try, but so much of what she’s in, regardless of genre, just doesn’t look good. She’s in Highlander II, for pity’s sake!
Now, it’s also true that I have no doubt all of it has defenders. I like Prairie Home Companion way more than the average; it’s one of the only Altman films I actually like, in fact. And, yes, our article image is her as Irulan. Because I like the David Lynch Dune; it’s the only filmed version I do like. So I’m sure Blue Tiger and Artworks and all sorts of other obscure stuff has its defenders. I’m not one of them and they don’t appeal, but that’s fine. You’re allowed to like what you like.
Madsen is the daughter of Elaine Madsen, herself a filmmaker. Mother and daughter have a production company called Title IX. Their first production was a documentary about the lives of older women, because it’s impossible to be in Hollywood as a woman for any length of time without becoming aware that it’s hard for a woman to age in Hollywood. The name of the company refers to the US law that defends against gender discrimination, something I have no doubt mother and daughter have experienced in their lives.
