You've got to give Virginia Madsen credit for remaining true to her principles. Even before Sideways returned the '80s sex symbol to Hollywood's A-list, the Oscar nominee was picking and choosing — and abandoning — her roles as if she'd never been down for the count. Case in point: her recurring gig as housewife Helen Pryor's (Gail O'Grady) mod confidante, Rebecca Sandstrom, during the first season of NBC's '60s-set drama, American Dreams.
"Originally, I was supposed to be the catalyst for Helen to go to the university," she recalls. "[But the plot] started to look a little too controversial when I read a script where I was smokin' a joint. That was the end. They were like, 'Uh-uh!' I went from being a strong feminist to a divorced alcoholic. That's where my character was going... so we parted ways. It
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