Once you’re in with David O. Russell, you’re really in. The Oscar-nominated director’s next film, buzzy biopic Joy, will reunite him with American Hustle and Silver Linings Playbook stars Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, ensuring another round of Oscar nominations for them all. Luckily, though, it won’t be all familiar faces for Russell: Sideways actress Virginia Madsen has just joined the cast, The Hollywood Reporter confirms.
The film, set for a prime awards season release on Christmas Day this year, will focus on Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano (Lawrence), who began inventing at a young age and eventually hit it big with the Mop and Huggable Hampers, in addition to more than 100 other patents. As her empire grew, Mangano also juggled the responsibilities of playing single mom to three children.
This is Madsen’s most high-profile role in a long while. The actress, who saw massive success in the 1980s, received an Oscar nomination for playing Maya in Alexander Payne’s 2004 dramedy Sideways, but she has since moved to television, with major roles in NBC’s The Event and Lifetime’s Witches of East End, among others. She recently wrapped filming on Walter, a comedy-drama starring Milo Ventimiglia, William H. Macy and Neve Campbell, while her indie drama All the Wilderness received a theatrical release earlier this month.
Though many of us in the entertainment world are still reeling from Oscar fatigue, Joy is certainly one of the projects to watch heading into the fall of 2015. It features a very Academy-friendly cast and director while focusing on a fascinating, real-life subject never before brought to the big screen.
