Virginia Chance
| Virginia Chance | |
|---|---|
| Raising Hope character | |
 Martha Plimpton as Virginia Chance | |
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Portrayed by | Martha Plimpton |
| Information | |
| Occupation | House Cleaner |
| Family |
Louise Thompson (mother) Maw Maw (maternal grandmother) Hope Chance (granddaughter) Delilah (cousin) Bruce Chance (brother-in-law) Mike Chance (nephew) Paw Paw (deceased) Sabrina Collins (daughter-in-law) |
| Spouse(s) | Burt Chance |
| Children | Jimmy Chance |
Virginia Slims Chance (née Thompson)[1] is a fictional character on Raising Hope played by Martha Plimpton.
Virginia (40) is Hope's grandmother,[2] Jimmy's mother, and Burt's wife. When Virginia was two, her mother left her to be raised by her grandmother, Maw Maw. Virginia conceived Jimmy when she was 15 years old.
Background
Virginia was born in late 1969, or 1970. Her mother gave her the middle name of Slims, hoping to be awarded a carton of Virginia Slims cigarettes. When she was born she was close to her grandparents, Maw Maw and Wilfred. Virginia's mother Louise wanted to give her up for adoption, but was not allowed to by Maw Maw. She left home when Virginia was very young; so Virginia was raised to believe that her mother had died after hitting her head on a wooden duck lawn ornament trying to get some honey from a beehive from the front porch of the house. To this day, Virginia doesn't know her mother, Louise is still alive.
When Virginia was fourteen, she began dating Burt Chance, who was sixteen. A year later in a parked car outside her friend's Sweet Sixteen party, Virginia conceived her son when she was fifteen, Jimmy, making her a mother at the age of sixteen. in the episode "What Up, Cuz?" it was revealed that Virginia suffered from scoliosis as a child. Every episode Virginia makes several humorous malapropisms.
Both Virginia and Burt worked hard to support their family. Virginia works cleaning houses to support her family. They often left Jimmy home where he spent time with Maw. When Virginia was thirty nine years old, she became a grandmother (much to her annoyance) when Jimmy's daughter was born. Though she was initially upset about Jimmy's decision to raise the baby, she comes around after he explains that he just wants to make a better life for himself and his daughter. It was even Virginia's idea to rename her granddaughter Hope from her original given name, Princess Beyonce. She also gave up smoking when Hope moved in with them and gave the money to Jimmy to help pay for Hope's daycare.
Virginia has had a conflict since childhood with her first cousin Delilah. When visiting, Delilah belittled Virginia by flaunting her clothes and money. Delilah originally dated Burt, but Virginia stole him in revenge. She even claimed that sex with Burt cured her scoliosis.
Whenever Virginia is upset, Burt will calm her down by gently caressing the bridge of her nose in a slow motion.
Virginia is very fond of her prized pig figurine collection, and she continually wants to add to her collection. She views them lovingly like they are her babies. Virginia became very upset over her granddaughter, Hope, broke one of her figurines.
Despite Virginia's shortcomings, she has shown to be loving towards Jimmy and accepts the fact that she is a grandmother, frequently taking care of Hope. Moreover, when Maw Maw displayed signs of Dementia, Virginia took responsibility for her. She usually humors Maw Maw's idiosyncrasies.
Virginia is a recovering hoarder.
Relatives
- Jimmy Chance: Virginia's son, who she had at fifteen.
- Burt Chance: Virginia's husband. She stole him from her cousin Delilah, who is revealed to still love Burt.
- Maw Maw: Virginia's grandmother who raised her when her mother left.
- Sabrina Collins: Virginia's daughter-in-law, Jimmy's wife.
- Delilah: Virginia's wealthy cousin; the two have hated each other since childhood. This was fueled when Virginia stole Burt from Delilah
- Hope Chance: Virginia's granddaughter.
- Louise Thompson: Virginia's mother who had her when she was twenty. Louise left when Virginia was two, and Maw Maw told Virginia that her mother had died by suffocating herself .
- Mike Chance: Virginia's nephew.
- Bruce Chance: Virginia's brother-in-law, Burt's brother.
- Wilfred Thompson: Virginia's grandfather.
Critical reception
Martha Plimpton has received direct praise for her performance, with many critics calling her the show's greatest character. Plimpton was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011, for her performance in the episode "Say Cheese." She won the Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011 as well.
Reference list
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