Michelle Pfeiffer has disclosed the unglamorous realities of filming Taylor Sheridan's series The Madison. During a recent appearance on the Los Angeles Times podcast, the 67-year-old actress, who portrays Stacy Clyburn in the Yellowstone creator's latest Paramount+ show, described the sets in Montana and Texas as often being brutally basic, lacking running water and electricity.
Bare-Bones Filming Environment
"You may as well be in a tent because, you know, there is no bathroom," Pfeiffer said about shooting scenes on open land. "Even the outhouse is not real. So there's no AC, there's no plumbing, there isn't anything. But it is breathtakingly glorious."
The Golden Globe-winning actress added, "It took a while [to get used to] because they built that cabin. It was all a little bit rushed for everyone and so there weren't certain accommodations set up." She noted that there were no trailers on the open terrain because they would have been visible in the background of scenes.
Lack of Basic Amenities
"There was really no place for us to sit," Pfeiffer explained. "There was no bathroom nearby. There was no food. And in the winter, it was cold. It was like, 'Could we have a heater?' And in the summer, it was like, 'Could I get an umbrella?' Because the sun's really intense. It took us about halfway through to figure all of that out."
The Madison follows Pfeiffer's grieving New Yorker, Stacy, who relocates her family to the Madison River valley in central Montana after her husband's death, played by Kurt Russell. The first season aired in March, and the second season has already been filmed, expected to air either late this year or early 2027. The series has been renewed for a third season, with both Pfeiffer and Russell returning.
Leap of Faith
Earlier this year, Pfeiffer revealed that joining the show was a significant leap of faith as she couldn't read the script before accepting the role. She told Entertainment Weekly at the New York City premiere, "I committed to it without even having read anything. It was really just [Sheridan] explaining the scope of the character and kind of the outline of where it was going."
Sheridan explained that he prefers to cast projects before writing them. Pfeiffer added, "We went back and forth over a couple of weeks like that, and then I realized I wasn't going to win this argument and I was either going to have to commit or give it up."
