Kurt Russell Would Happily Wait Another 37 Years to Reunite with His ‘The Madison’ Co-Star Michelle Pfeiffer

On June 4, the IndieWire Honors Spring 2026 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for crafting some of the year’s best television series. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the creators, artisans, and performers behind shows well worth toasting. In the days leading up to the Los Angeles event, IndieWire is showcasing their work with new interviews and tributes from their peers.

Ahead, “The Madison” star Kurt Russell tells IndieWire about the many qualities that set our Vanguard Award winner, actress Michelle Pfeiffer, apart from the crowd.

“Oh, lucky us, it’s a perfect day to shoot this scene.” I’m thinking this quietly in my mind as I’m strolling down to the set near the banks of the Madison River in Montana, where I’ve been shooting for the past three weeks all the scenes my character, Preston Clyburn, appears in during the first season of Taylor Sheridan’s “The Madison.”

I’ve been having a ball fly fishing different rivers and lazing on the porch of my rustic cabin filming Preston’s side of a number of cell phone conversations between him and his wife, our show’s main character, Stacey. But today is special, because it’s the first day I get to work face to face with the actress who plays Stacey. And I’m genuinely excited, because after a 37-year interlude, I’m about to once again climb into the proverbial sandbox and play all afternoon with Michelle Pfeiffer. Lucky me.

One of the nicest things about our business is, you never know when you may get the chance to experience playing in that sandbox [on “Tequila Sunrise”] and bonding again with a great play pal. Sometimes it can happen fairly soon, other times it may be 37 years apart. Either way, when it does happen, it puts a smile in your heart and a little jump in your step.

That’s just how I’m feeling as I’m about to “work” again with Michelle.

Habit kicks in and I silently start to run a few lines of dialogue in my head when out of the corner of my eye, I see Michelle walking down a gently sloping hill towards the set. And the dialogue running in my head stops, replaced by a soft chuckle and easy smile. “Yup, there she is, that’s Michelle all right… man, she looks great.” Thirty-seven years instantly vanish.

Did I say she was walking to the set? That’s criminally incorrect. She’s actually gliding down through a grassy field in measured thought, composed, concentrated, casually focused on the scene ahead that calls for her character to completely break down at the end of the scene. It’s not an easy scene. In fact, it’s an emotionally gut-wrenching moment of terrifying discovery for Stacey. But you wouldn’t know that by watching Michelle right now. She is by nature effortlessly… regal.

Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell in ‘The Madison’Courtesy of Chris Saunders / Paramount+

As she approaches, I can’t help but appreciate her innate ability to, with equal lack of effort or intention, put all the beauty of Montana surrounding us where it belongs…. at her feet. This image of her suddenly reminds me of when a great baseball player takes the field. Everyone witnessing that… players, fans, writers… in this scenario — the whole crew — all share a distinct moment of RESPECT. It’s the moment when that man, that woman, that… player, steps into the arena, to put on display, for all to witness, the greatness that has earned that level of respect. What a pleasure, what an honor to work with this woman.

Later on, we’ll laugh and smile with ridiculous pride sharing pictures of our grandchildren to each other, but now it’s time to share our characters. To build a little garden together. After just a couple rehearsals, then a couple of filmed takes we slam it into gear simultaneously, and she is flat out killing it. This girl’s on fire!!

And those 37 years in between suddenly feel like no more than a long weekend.

“The Madison” is now streaming on Paramount+.