Virginia Madsen was best-known as a femme fatale before she was nominated for a best-supporting-actress Oscar for the wine-loving Maya in 2004's Sideways. Since then she's getting a chance to show exactly what she can do. Madsen recently spoke with Rocky film critic Robert Denerstein.

You've had some recent interesting movie marriages opposite Billy Bob Thornton in The Astronaut Farmer and Jim Carrey in The Number 23. Are you entering a wife-and-mother phase?

"Yes, I had some very intense movie husbands. I am a mother, so it's what I really like to play in movies. . . . I've been trying to play roles that are more reflective of me, and those are kind of the roles that have found me."

You have a 12-year-old son. Ready for the teen years?

"It's curious. Like when you say how old your kid is, one guy said, 'Oh you've got a year left.' That's so negative. What I've seen the most in parents is that they really miss their kids when they become teenagers. They grow apart. . . . My siblings and I really loved our mom. And even if they (an older bother and sister) were getting in a lot of trouble, they were still talking to her."

You're a single parent? How has that been?

"I always say that I'm a single woman but not a single mom. Jack's father (actor Antonio Sabato Jr.) has always been there. We live a block away from each other. We moved together because Antonio has a 4-year-old-daughter now, and Jack needs to be near his baby sister. We're not a couple, but we're parental partners."

Sideways really changed your career, didn't it?

"I understand that this is a business. That's why it didn't crush me when I was unsuccessful. . . . But I kept doing independent films, and I was doing work that I always wanted to do. (Sideways director Alexander Payne) cast me in that movie and that turned out to be the one that just blew up. What was so rewarding was that people finally could . . . see who I am. That's all I was trying to do all those years."

Tell me a bit about working with Billy Bob Thornton and Jim Carrey.

"The thing that I liked most about Jim was that he gave me a lot of respect, and I really appreciated that. He's also got a great sense of humor. . . . He loved to make us laugh, but he knew when it was appropriate.

"Billy Bob and I feel that these roles (in Astronaut Farmer) were more like us than anything we've done. He's like Charley (a Texas rancher who wants to fly in space). He's a Southern boy. He has all that Southern charm, but he has a lot of humility. He says, 'Thank you.' If he bumps into somebody, he says, 'Excuse me.' We have so much in common. He did Sling Blade. I did Sideways. We were both around for a long time before we found success. So when we get a job we're, 'Thank you. This is great. I've got a job.' "

A lot of actresses are worried about age. Are you?

"The industry has kind of changed. It's not a big deal when an actress turns 30. It's not a big deal when you turn 40 or 45. (She's 45.) But 50? That number holds a certain significance. I don't know whether it will change when I get there. It doesn't seem to be a big deal for Meryl Streep and several others, but it's a handful. "