From the moment she was born, Madeline Day was a daddy's girl. As the youngest of four and the only daughter, she was the baby of the family and there was no denying that she got special treatment because of it. Her father viewed her as his little princess but she didn't often act like one. Or maybe she did, when compared to the rebellious Disney princess that longed to get away from the places they were raised. That trope she fell under completely, minus the whole kingdom to think of part of the equation. The Day family wasn't financially secure at all times by any means; their stability fluctuated as Vincent dealt with dips in available work and Alessandra went through a number of job changes over the years as well. Their children made no fuss about it since they didn't want for much more than they could get at any given time, except the boys sometimes wished they'd gotten another brother instead of a sister.

That feeling of annoyance often came after Madeline got away with something that the boys hadn't previously, like sneaking out, coming home after curfew, borrowing one of the cars when she wasn't supposed to. But she had watched them and learned from most of their mistakes, on top of being that soft spot in her father's rules and discipline. It was her older brother that, in the middle of an argument, had sparked the idea that she should use her talents for good and get into acting. It wasn't until high school that the suggestion actually lead somewhere. Madeline got involved with both Drama classes and drama club in her sophomore and landed roles in a couple of plays (no leads but she still had fun) before she graduated in 2001.

From there, Madeline thoroughly disappointed her parents by making the choice not to go to college. She had skated through high school with decent grades and breezed through a couple of classes, but higher education had never been a draw for her. Her plan was to head out west and see what she could do with herself in Hollywood. After completing a bartending course to ensure she had a skill that would come in handy and ease her parents mind on how she was going to support herself if roles didn't come in, Madeline headed to LA in January of 2002.

It was over a year before she finally landed guest roles on a couple of television shows and another until she finally found her way to film. It was quite the event in April 2005 when the entire Day family went to see the baby of the family get petrified as a pot-smoking babysitter in The Amityville Horror. From there they were able to catch her on the small screen regularly when she got a recurring role on a WB series. That became a rare role amongst the many that she encouraged her family to watch, while others were not quite right for her parents to view. It became part of their routine to double check with Madeline before watching anything she was in and far too many times she had to tell them to wait for the next one.

Madeline felt no shame about the projects she worked on though. Playing any sort of hot girl stereotype was never something she ran from because that paid the bills as much as the roles with a bit more bite and "substance" behind them. She was raised in a household fueled by jobs rather than careers and though acting was a career, each role was still just a job and she was constantly searching for one that would stick. Television was the medium she was most interested in because she found it to be more secure. Or so it was for other actors while she only landed guest spot after guest spot. But so long as there was work, she was happy.

Or so she was until March 30th, 2010, when her mother passed away less than a year after being diagnosed with lung cancer. To say that it devastated her daughter would be an understatement. Madeline put work on hold for a couple of months to spend time in New Jersey with her father and brothers but eventually she had obligations she needed to fulfill. It tugged at her heartstrings to leave her father alone but she knew that her brothers and their families would be there to support him when she couldn't be.

The roles she got continued to grow in some ways and stall in others. "Pan Am" became another television series that didn't pan out the way she had hoped and left her once again trying to find her place in film. But then Netflix came along to offer television in a whole new way. "Orange Is The New Black" debuted on the streaming service in July of 2013 and it wasn't long after that Madeline's life completely changed. After a tipsy night with a friend, things got carried away and the two slept together. Which wasn't all that big of a deal, except that precautions were skipped and she became pregnant.

Having a child without her mother around to offer advice was incredibly scary and intimidating but she also knew that there was no way she couldn't have the baby. Fans were disappointed when she had to be excluded from a majority of OITNB's second season but were reassured that she would be back. Her son was born in May 2014 and motherhood has not been an easy adjustment for Madeline at all but she takes it one day at a time, just as she continues to try and do with her career. Because, in fact, it is a career and she loves it.