Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, Matthew Fox, Beau Garrett, Elle Chapman and Christina Alexandra Voros also detail the intense fan responses from male and female viewers
When Michelle Pfeiffer signed on to be a part of “The Madison,” she hadn’t read a single script — in fact, series creator Taylor Sheridan hadn’t written one yet. The actor also had no idea whether Kurt Russell, who had signed on to play her husband, would even be available to film due to a scheduling conflict. All Pfeiffer knew for certain was the rough outline that Sheridan had shared with her: A story about a woman who is nearly torn apart by grief and how she comes out on the other side.
It all paid off: “The Madison” reached 8 million viewers in its first 10 days of availability, making it the most-watched debut for a Taylor Sheridan show. The show also achieved Sheridan’s most popular series launch among women ages 35 and older (Sheridan created the series and serves as executive producer. Both Pfeiffer and Russell executive produce in addition to starring).
At a recent panel, Pfeiffer explained that she had been wanting to get back to television when Sheridan approached her. “When Taylor Sheridan meets with you and says, ‘I would like to develop a series around your character,’ I mean, you don’t take that lightly,” she shared during the conversation that also featured co-stars Russell, Matthew Fox, Beau Garrett, Elle Chapman and director, cinematographer and executive producer Christina Alexandra Voros.
The series follows the Clyburns, a wealthy New York City family who relocates to Montana’s Madison River Valley following the deaths of family patriarch Preston (Russell) and his brother Paul (Fox), who were killed in a plane crash. The six episodes follow matriarch Stacy Clyburn (Pfeiffer) and her daughters, Abigail Reese (Beau Garrett) and Paige McIntosh (Elle Chapman), as they struggle to process their grief.
Since the show premiered this past March, Pfeiffer and Russell have been floored by the intense emotional response it’s elicited from male and female viewers alike. “What I have been the most surprised by is how deeply this show resonates with people, and most surprisingly men,” Pfeiffer said. “I’ve thought long and hard about it, and I don’t know that I really know why that is … I think it’s given people an opportunity to just let it out, and maybe men especially don’t give themselves permission to do that.”
Russell added, “I had a hard time getting through every script. If there’s any guys out there that think the way I do, they’re going to be crying their eyes out half the time, and unabashedly so, because it’s the kind of thing that makes you really feel something.”
Praising Sheridan’s writing, Fox echoed similar sentiments. “The scripts really touched me,” he said when asked why he wanted to join the series. “Everything in the scripts, all the imagery. I just was really moved by it and it felt familiar, it felt like home. It just felt soulful and full of heart.”
Voros, who also worked on “1883” and “Yellowstone,” said it was her own personal connection to the narrative that made her eager to join the project. Voros directed all six episodes of the debut season. “I related very much to the way new geographies can teach us things that we don’t know exist inside ourselves,” she shared. “As someone who lost their father, I could relate to my own experience with that grief, and the grief that my mother experienced while also trying to tend to my own. And when I read this script, it was like somebody went into my brain, took 15 things that were powerful and important to me, and wrote them into this beautiful poem.”
The flashbacks throughout Season 1 allow the audience to dive deep into Stacy and Preston’s dynamic. Their chemistry and respect for each other are crucial, and as Russell explained, Preston had to be someone that you don’t forget. “He has to be something that you understand why she’s grieving the way she’s grieving, and that’s a really good man,” he said, explaining that the role instantly captivated him. “When this came along, I was like, ‘Yeah, who wouldn’t want to do that? Who wouldn’t want to be the guy that Michelle Pfeiffer grieves over for however long?’”
While Preston and Stacy’s love story was largely idyllic, Stacy’s relationship with their daughters in the wake of his death is much thornier. Eldest daughter Abby is recently divorced, and coming to grips with being a single mother, while Paige is an ambitious NYC publicist thrown completely out of her element in Wyoming. When tragedy throws them back together, the women are forced to confront tensions that had simmered.
“Michelle just kept me on my toes every moment,” Garrett said. “There was so much in our relationship that I didn’t see on the page, and I really leaned into that. We didn’t rehearse a ton, we didn’t have scripts, everything was so alive.”
“The Madison” was renewed for Season 3 this past April. No premiere date has been set for the second season, which was already filmed. “We shot two seasons before we saw anything,” Chapman said. “We just hoped and believed that we created something so insanely special.”
Along with those in attendance at the panel conversation, “The Madison” stars Patrick J. Adams, Amiah Miller, Alaina Pollack, Ben Schnetzer, Kevin Zegers, Rebecca Spence, Danielle Vasinova and Will Arnett.
Season 1 of “The Madison” is available to stream on Paramount+.