Michelle Pfeiffer was dreading one scene from The Madison so much that she tried to get it cut.
The newest show from the mind of Taylor Sheridan is expected to be some of the Yellowstone creator’s most intimate work… or as Kurt Russell put it… “female gaze-oriented.” It will tell a story that explores grief and human connection, and as far as plot is concerned, the series revolves around the titular character of Stacy Clyburn (played by Michelle Pfeiffer), a wealthy matriarch who upends her life in New York City to move her and her family to Montana following a plane crash that kills her husband (played by Kurt Russell) and brother-in-law.
The highly anticipated series is set to premiere on March 14 on Paramount+, and fans were given an inside look into the show back in February, when The Madison dropped its official trailer. One specific moment where Michelle Pfeiffer collapses into the flowing river really got the attention of viewers.
And speaking of that moment…
In an interview with CBS Mornings, Michelle Pfeiffer spoke about how that scene came to be, and more specifically, when it was shot. Much to the chagrin of the star of The Madison, they actually shot that emotional scene on location in Three Forks, Montana… in the middle of the winter:
“In December, in Montana. Maybe it was November. But it was definitely (cold), and I know it was towards the end. We kept saying, ‘We really need to get this scene shot because it’s going to be really cold.’ I was wearing a wet suit underneath (my clothes). There was no way (I could have done that without it). I would have got hypothermia.”
As the months rolled on during shooting, Pfeiffer kept thinking about the scene that would require her to submerge in the cold, Montana water.
So the actress considered deploying a practice that she’s done in the past… where if a scene is really getting underneath her skin, she does her best to get it cut out of the show entirely:
“I was worried about that scene. Whenever I get really worried about a scene, I try to get it cut. And I’m really good at it. I make really good arguments for it. Taylor wasn’t having it. So that scene… what I was afraid of, I knew it was going to be frigid. I was afraid it would lock me up, but it didn’t.”
Taylor Sheridan stayed strong and didn’t let Michelle Pfeiffer get away with getting the river scene cut.
And it’s a good thing that the creator kept it in, because it’s surely going to be one of the most emotional scenes in the show. The quick look we got of it in the trailer has already stood out above the rest. So even though it was a struggle for Pfeiffer to get through, it’ll certainly be a moment that’s worth it when fans get to see The Madison in just a matter of days.
You can hear more about the scene that Michelle Pfeiffer tried to get cut in the interview below:
