HOLIDAZED Key Art | ©2024 Hallmark

In HOLIDAZED, the eight-episode miniseries now streaming in its entirety on the Hallmark+ Channel, Virginia Madsen plays Connie Manetti-Hanahan. Connie’s husband Chuck (John C. McGinley) has, for Christmases beyond counting, turned the holiday decorating on their cul-de-sac from friendly competition into suburban warfare. This year, Connie has had enough, and presents Chuck with a contract of behavior she wants and expects from him.

In real life, the Chicago-born Madsen says she can’t get enough of Christmas, or her HOLIDAZED costars. Madsen and McGinley had actually worked together before, in 1991’s HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING.

Madsen was nominated for a Supporting Actress Oscar, and won a multitude of other honors, for her performance in 2004’s SIDEWAYS. Her many other notable film and television credits include the 1984 DUNE, SLAM DANCE, the original 1992 CANDYMAN, ARTWORKS, A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION, THE ASTRONAUT FARMER, WITCHES OF EAST END, and DESIGNATED SURVIVOR.

When Hallmark has its day at the Television Critics Association (TCA) summer press tour at Pasadena’s Langham Hotel, Madsen first participates in a Q&A session with her HOLIDAZED castmates and executive producer Gina Matthews. Later, Madsen makes herself available for a one-on-one conversation at the Hallmark party. This interview combines remarks from both discussions.

During the Q&A, Madsen notes the irrepressible nature of the HOLIDAZED cast when they’re all together. “I know that we were kind of loud [backstage] before we came on. I said, ‘You can’t “shh” us. We’re not going to be quiet, because now we’re having a reunion.’ It’s really a family reunion. We’re genuinely glad to all be back together again.”

She is especially glad to be reunited with McGinley. “We’re really great friends, and [since HIGHLANDER II], we’ve never gotten the chance to work together, so this was perfect. This time, we got to be husband and wife. And it just matched the energy we have as friends. It was really easy.”

Madsen’s Connie is pretty exasperated when we first meet her in HOLIDAZED. Does Madsen think this is Connie’s normal state, or does it build annually in reaction to Chuck’s competitive mania?

“I think she knows this is going to happen. He does this every year, and probably St. Patrick’s Day is the same, but this is going to be the neighborhood feud. And as funny as it is, it’s just too chaotic. And she probably tries [to keep the peace] every year, like, ‘This year, we’re going to have a good …’ And it just never works. But she’s determined to make a difference. But nobody listens,” she laughs.

Virginia Madsen in HOLIDAZED | ©2024 Hallmark Media

Madsen relates that the holidays a big deal for her personally. “I’m awful. I start playing Christmas carols at Thanksgiving. And it’s like January 12, and [husband] Nick [Holmes] is like, ‘Okay, it’s time for the Christmas carols [to take a break], I’m going on to some rock ‘n’ roll,’ and I’m like, ‘But it’s –’ ‘No.’” Madsen emits an exaggerated sigh of surrender. “‘Okay.’ I grew up really loving Christmas, because my mom did it so well. It’s a time when you’ve got to put away the pressures. Try and compartmentalize, put that [stressful] stuff away, and try and enjoy the people that you love.”

HOLIDAZED is Madsen’s first Hallmark project. Is there anything unique about them as a production entity?

“They’re really good to work with. And they just take such good care of us. The only thing I had to worry about was doing my job. A set is always a scramble. There’s never enough time, there’s never enough money. But none of that pressure was on the cast. And I always felt like Gina had time for me. I never felt like I had to rush around and I got sort of lost in the mix of things.”

The Manetti-Hanahan children are home for the season. How does Madsen find playing the parent of adult children?

“Well, I have an adult child, so it comes naturally to me,” Madsen observes with a laugh. “I have a lot of practice. I’m a grandmother now. It’ll be her first Christmas, so it’s a big deal. But I just love the holiday, and not [just] because of this movie. Even though everyone is grown up, I try to fill the house with as much family and friends as I can get, and cook, and cook, and cook.”

Over the course of production, Madsen discovered that executive producer Matthews is also a cooking enthusiast. “Gina is this amazing chef. And she loves to, on a production, have everyone together, and she cooks all this incredible Italian food. Now, she was in this little apartment, and we all had to do a COVID test outside the door and stand there, waiting for, ‘Okay, now I can come in.’ And so, there was this bowl of COVID tests. We were all just being safe. And she made these meatballs and these rice balls, and it was chaos. It was, again, like the scenes in the Manetti-Hanahan household that we were all jammed into this one place, eating this amazing food.

“I think we were all so glad to be there. We were in this beautiful little town. So, if we did get to encounter one another on the set, it was like, ‘There you are. Oh, my God. How’s your story going? Our story’s going well.’ And if we would see each other out on the town, it was like going back to the same thing we’ll say over and over again. We were like this big extended family.”

With HOLIDAZED, Madsen especially enjoyed shooting scenes with small children. “It really was like we were one big family, and when we had the little ones around, which made me so happy, when they’re all screaming and running through the room, that was happening constantly and we didn’t have a lot of room. So, sometimes, it was one kid who literally climbed over me to go, and it was just fun. It was really fun.”

Madsen wants to give a shoutout to the HOLIDAZED crew. “The kids were climbing on them, too. It was small quarters. It’s like it’s a dance there, to get around each other in such close quarters. I don’t know how it worked, but it did. They were really, really on it.”

In the course of Madsen’s career, she’s played a number of femme fatales and tortured souls. While Connie is put-upon, her problems are not as severe as those of some of Madsen’s other characters. How is it portraying someone not involved in murder and mystery?

HOLIDAZED key art | ©2024 Hallmark Channel

“Well, it’s a lot more fun.” Madsen notes that she was asked “a long time ago, in one of the first movies that I had [onscreen] kids, ‘Well, how’s it feel playing a mom?’, and I said, ‘This is the best thing I do in life. It’s where I’m the most comfortable.’ Once I could get rid of all those kinds of dark dramas, I’m much more comfortable in this.”

Madsen can next be seen in the upcoming drama SHEEPDOG. It is not, Madsen clarifies, about an actual canine. “‘Sheepdog’ is a saying for soldiers, that you guard the sheep at all costs, and it’s a saying from the other troops that he was with. It’s about a veteran with PTSD, and I am his counselor. It’s about his recovery, and his redemption. And it’s a really important story. I’m very proud of it. It’s the polar opposite of HOLIDAZED.”

“It’s a ‘movie’ that just makes you feel good – I keep saying it’s a movie, even though it’s a series, but for us, making it, it felt like we were making one long movie. We just didn’t have to leave in three weeks.”

Related: HOLIDAZED : Actor Dennis Haysbert gets into the holiday spirit in new Hallmark holiday series – Exclusive Interview

Related: HOLIDAZED : Actor John C. McGinley discusses his new Hallmark holiday series – Exclusive Interview

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