When I saw the headline on Variety that Madsen was ‘added to AMELIA’ I though, oh, that’s nice, Michael Madsen is branching out of genre pictures to do some prestige work. It’s about time he has a go at Oscar. But then I clicked on the story, and there she was—a beautiful blond, smiling and staring at me. That’s because Michael Madsen is Virginia Madsen (SIDEWAYS) who has signed on to star in the Amelia Earhart (played by Hilary Swank) biopic, to be directed by Mira Nair (MONSOON WEDDING). Richard Gere recently signed on to play Charlie Putnam, Earhart’s husband, and Madsen will play Putnam’s first wife. Madsen can next be seen opposite Matthew Broderick in DIMINISHED CAPACITY.