Fans of writer and creator Taylor Sheridan know he’s not one to shy away from life’s darker corners, as evidenced by gritty series Yellowstone, 1883, 1923 and Landman. With his latest show, The Madison, he brings that same emotional depth to the grief-stricken Clyburn family as they leave their comfortable Manhattan lives behind to travel to rugged Montana in the aftermath of a devastating loss.
The family, led by Michelle Pfeiffer’s Stacy, must learn to survive beyond tragedy and find their way back to each other along the Madison River.
“I think [the audience] will relate to her particular, specific agony she’s living with and living through,” Michelle, 67, tells WHO. “And I think that they’ll enjoy watching this family that’s now a fish out of water learning new things about themselves.”
What sets The Madison apart?
The show, which is streaming now on Paramount+, may share its DNA with Sheridan’s other sweeping dramas, but this one creates a world of its own. While it takes a more peaceful and solemn approach than his other productions, it certainly doesn’t sacrifice any of the tear-jerking moments we’ve come to expect.
“What makes The Madison so different than Taylor Sheridan’s other shows is the quietness in which it lives,” Beau Garrett, 43, who plays Stacy’s elder daughter, Abigail, says. “I think it is a very emotionally complex, quite poetic and simple story about a family grieving and trying to find their way back to each other in a landscape that they are very unfamiliar with.”
A female-led production
As Sheridan’s first project told from a female perspective, it’s only fitting that The Madison also features a female director in Christina Alexandra Voros. On screen, Michelle, alongside Beau and relative newcomer Elle Chapman, who plays younger Clyburn daughter Paige, anchors the heart of the story.
“As you can see watching the show, Russell’s very outnumbered by all the women on the show,” Elle, 26, says of her on-screen husband, played by Patrick J. Adams.
For co-star Kevin Zegers, 41, who plays Cade Harris, that dynamic was especially meaningful. As a father of 10-year-old twin daughters, he says it was special for him “to show my girls this all happens through these two women” when he brought his girls to the set.
A different side to grief
At the heart of the series is a more layered and personal look at loss, as it explores grief in a way that feels less one-note and more true to life.
Rather than sitting solely in sorrow, Patrick says the show makes space for the messier, more unexpected emotions that can surface in the wake of tragedy – in particular, through the dynamic between Russell and Paige, who bring a welcome sense of levity to such a heavy subject.
“I think part of the gift of this show is that we get to provide this other colour of [grief],” the former Suits star, 44, says. “Grief comes in a lot of shades and, I think maybe for me, one of the most complicated ones of those shades is the laughter and the weird kind of silliness that you find when you’re going through something horrible, you know?”
The landscape
As with all Sheridan’s series, the setting is a “main character” in itself, notes Christina, 48, which helps give the show its own distinct personality. Shot in Montana’s Madison River Valley and surrounding areas, the series is wrapped in a rugged, expansive beauty that feels a world away from the Clyburns’ old life in Manhattan.
The river, the mountains and the raw openness of the land all become part of the family’s emotional journey as they attempt to rebuild after tragedy. That deep connection to location is why, Elle tells WHO, the show “feels like a love story to family and a love story to Montana”.
Cast chemistry
If the cast look completely at ease with one another on screen, that’s because much of that chemistry was already there. Patrick says working with Elle was one of the joys of the production, praising the first-time TV actress for the energy she brought to set.
“I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in this. Elle brings such joy and gratitude and wonder and silliness,” he says. “She shows up with just such enthusiasm and excitement, like, ‘I can’t believe we get to do this today. Look at how cool this is,’ and it reminds me to enjoy every moment of it.”
Reuniting on screen 36 years after starring together in 1988 film Tequila Sunrise, Michelle and Kurt Russell, as patriarch Preston Clyburn, slipped right back into step, with the actress saying, “It was like no time had passed. It’s wonderful.”
(The Madison is streaming now on Paramount+)
