The actor says Sheridan and costar Michelle Pfeiffer suggested they delay filming his scenes until he could join the series.

Kurt Russell has already filmed The Madison season 2, calls Taylor Sheridan’s new series a ‘female-gaze-oriented show’

The actor says Sheridan and costar Michelle Pfeiffer suggested they delay filming his scenes until he could join the series.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and *NME*.

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January 28, 2026 9:00 a.m. ET

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Kurt Russell as Preston Clyburn in season 1, episode 4 of the Paramount+ series 'The Madison'. Credit:

Emerson Miller/Paramount +

Kurt Russell very nearly didn’t star on *The Madison. ***

The 74-year-old actor tells ** that he almost passed up a starring role on Taylor Sheridan’s upcoming family drama due to a scheduling conflict, but that the *Yellowstone* creator and his costar Michelle Pfeiffer altered its shooting schedule so that he was able to film its first two seasons.**

"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 explains. “And I said, ‘There's just no way to do it,’ because I was working on this show.”

Kurt Russell as Preston Clyburn and Matthew Fox as Paul Clyburn in episode 1 of the Paramount+ series 'The Madison'.

Emerson Miller/Paramount +

So, Sheridan and Pfeiffer, who both serve as executive producers on the series, came up with the clever solution to delay shooting Russell's season 1 scenes until he could get in on the action.

“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,’” Russell recalls. “‘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.’ And so we were able to do that.” **

*The Madison*, which premieres on March 14 on Paramount+, hasn’t officially been greenlit for a second season. However, series star Elle Chapman revealed on social media that production on the follow-up wrapped last month. Representatives for Paramount+ did not immediately respond to EW*'*s* *request for comment.

'Tombstone' star Kurt Russell saddles up for 'Yellowstone' spinoff 'The Madison'

Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, Will Arnett star in first trailer for Taylor Sheridan's 'The Madison'

Russell is glad that the series was able to accommodate his schedule, adding that the first season of *The Madison* is comprised of six episodes and that season 2 features an additional six installments.

“I was very happy about that, because I really like what *The* *Madison* is. It’s a smart show,” he says. “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.” **

He also praises their costars, which include Chapman, Beau Garrett, Matthew Fox, Patrick J. Adams, and Will Arnett. “They're all really good, but it is [Sheridan's] writing that is so compelling,” Russell says. “And I think that it's a very different show for Taylor in that it's a very female-gaze-oriented show. And I think it's extremely well written, it was fun to play. It was really fun to do. I just had a good time.”

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*The Madison* tells the story of the Clyburns, a family that makes the move from Manhattan to Montana after suffering a profound tragedy. But, before *The Madison* — and even before the second season of *Monarch: Legacy of Monsters*, which premieres on Feb. 27 on Apple TV — Russell is returning to television screens in a crisp and cool new Michelob ULTRA commercial that’s set to air during the Super Bowl.

Titled “The ULTRA Instructor,” the advertisement sees Russell star as a mysterious mountain man who takes novice skier Greg (*Thunderbolts *star Lewis Pullman) under his wing so that he isn’t always the one footing his friend group’s après-ski tab. Blending the Super Bowl with the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics, the commercial also stars Olympic Games gold medalist Chloe Kim and Olympian and NHL champion T. J. Oshie as spectators stunned by Greg’s astounding new ski slope skills.**

“We love watching the Super Bowl, and it's fun to watch the commercials too,” Russell, who is a lifelong skier, says. “I gotta say, on that day, they're very different…. They're a little bit like a mini movie. They're water cooler fare, and the next day it’s fun to talk about them. So I looked at it as something like, ‘Hey, let's go after this. Let's have some fun with this thing.’”**

The clip, which is directed by Joseph Kosinski (*F1: The Movie, Top Gun: Maverick*), marks Russell and Pullman’s respective commercial debuts. Russell notes that he was particularly intrigued by his role. ** “Who's this guy? What's he do? Who was that masked man?” he recalls thinking of his character. “And Lewis Pullman was really fun to work with. It was just a fun day…. I was the first person to ski Snowbird this year before it was open, so I had a great time.” **

And, naturally, he brought a bit of his own flair to the commercial, too. “I tapped into some of the things that I've experienced,” Russell elaborates. “Some of that stuff wasn’t written in the original concept. Joe and ULTRA were great to work with in terms of, ‘Hey, guys, what about there? What about this? What about this? How about that?’ And we came up with some fun stuff. I've seen some interesting things. I skied all my life, and I saw how this could tap into the coaching aspect of what we did in [the 2004 Olympic sports drama] *Miracle. *That kind of stuff."**

Watch “The ULTRA Instructor” above.

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