Michelle Pfeiffer Says Taylor Sheridan Refused to Let Her Read the Script Before Agreeing to Do The Madison

Michelle Pfeiffer made the leap into The Madison without reading a script first.

On Monday, March 9, Pfeiffer told Entertainment Tonight at the New York City premiere of The Madison that while she asked Taylor Sheridan to provide her with a script ahead of her casting, he wasn’t going to budge.

“I committed to it without even having read anything. It was really just him explaining the scope of the character and kind of the outline of where it was going,” she said. “I said, ‘Well, I’d really love to read something.’ And he said, ‘No, I really like to cast it first and then I write.’ I said, ‘Well, I’d really like to read something and then I commit.’ “

She adds, “We went back and forth over a couple of weeks like that, and then I realized I wasn’t going to to win this argument and I was either going to have to commit or give it up.”

In the series, Pfeiffer stars as the grieving Stacy Clyburn, who leaves New York to embrace a life in Montana with her family, as they bond over activities like fishing.

Per a logline, the show is described as a “heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana.” It also stars Kurt Russell, Patrick J. Adams and Matthew Fox.

During the Monday premiere at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Sheridan, 55, gave a rare speech to introduce his latest project. “I can’t stand these things,” he joked. “So for me to be at one means I’m really proud of the project, which I am.”

The show “demanded a lot of everyone,” Sheridan explained.

“I don’t make anything. I write things down and then I bring together a cast and a crew and I ask them to go make it,” the series creator said. “And trucking cameras across rivers and up mountains. So I have a chance here to do what I don’t get to do often, which is call them out and thank them personally for their sacrifice and their commitment.”

Elsewhere during her conversation with ET, Pfeiffer explained that she felt she was given “a lot of responsibility” as a lead on The Madison and had boarded the show while catching up on some of Sheridan’s past work, including Yellowstone and Special Ops: Lioness.

As for reuniting with Russell, 74, she added that it felt like “no time had passed.” They previously appeared together in the 1988 film Tequila Sunrise.

“He’s just the most fun,” Pfeiffer said. “You feel so safe working with him. He’ll come back at you no matter what you throw at him. So you just feel like you could do anything. And he’ll be there to support you. And he’s so good. He’s so good in the show.”

The Madison premieres March 14 on Paramount+ with three episodes. The following three will premiere on March 21.