Their perseverance paid off.
Kurt Russell has revealed why he almost couldn’t star as Preston Clyburn in the upcoming “Yellowstone” spinoff, “The Madison,” despite being eyed for the role from the get-go by series creator Taylor Sheridan.
“I did the second season of ‘Monarch: Legacy of Monsters,’ the Apple TV show, and unfortunately for me, the timing was when ‘Madison’ came around,” Russell, 74, told Entertainment Weekly during an interview published Wednesday.
“And I said, ‘There’s just no way to do it,’ because I was working on this show,” he added.
But Sheridan and Michelle Pfeiffer, who both serve as executive producers on the new neo-Western series, ultimately came up with a plan to work around Russell’s schedule and ensure he could star in the latest “Yellowstone” offshoot.
“Michelle Pfeiffer and Taylor were able to get together with the people at Paramount+ and said, ‘Well, let’s do two seasons instead of just one,’” he explained. “‘And then before we start the second season next year, instead of doing that, we will start with Kurt’s stuff.’”
“‘We really do want him to play the guy. And we’ll get his first season out of the way first, and jam all that in there, and then go into the second season and do that,’” Russell continued. “And so we were able to do that.”
Set to premiere on Paramount+ on March 14, “The Madison” will center on the Clyburn family after they move from New York City to the Madison River valley of central Montana.
Described as a “profound love story channeled through a deeply personal family drama about resilience and transformation” and Sheridan’s “most intimate work to date,” the series stars Russell and Pfeiffer as husband and wife Preston and Stacy Clyburn.
The supporting cast is rounded out by Will Arnett, Matthew Fox, Patrick J. Adams, Beau Garrett and more.
“I really like what ‘The Madison’ is. It’s a smart show,” Russell noted during his chat with EW ahead of the show’s premiere. “He’s a really good writer – Taylor’s excellent, and Michelle’s great, and she’s really great in this show. Talking about awards – I think they’re going to be looking Michelle’s way.”
“They’re all really good, but it is [Sheridan’s] writing that is so compelling,” he added of his fellow co-stars. “And I think that it’s a very different show for Taylor in that it’s a very female-gaze-oriented show.”
Russell went on to celebrate the upcoming series as “extremely well written” and acknowledged that it was “really fun to do” because he had such a “good time” on set.
The first teaser for “The Madison” gave audiences their first look at Russell and Pfeiffer in action as Preston and Stacy Clyburn when the trailer was released earlier this month.
“My center, my soul, is gone,” Pfeiffer, 67, says through tears in one emotional scene.
“You will heal, if you let yourself,” Arnett, who is guest-starring as therapist Phil Yorn, responds.
Elsewhere in the teaser, Russell’s Preston is seen kissing Pfeiffer’s character and fishing with his on-screen brother, Paul Clyburn (Fox), in the Madison River.
“What do I have?” Russell asks during a voiceover. “Before I’m too old to do anything more than just remember.”
