Kurt Russell has revealed that one of the reasons he was drawn to star in Taylor Sheridan’s latest western drama was for its love story.
In The Madison, Russell plays father and husband Preston Clyburn, who dies in the first episode and leaves his longtime wife — played by Michelle Pfeiffer — to pick up the pieces of their relationship in her grief.
The 75-year-old actor said in a recent interview with The National that while preparing for the show, he connected to the emotional storyline on a deep level because it made him think of his own connection with Goldie Hawn, whom he has been with for over 40 years.
“I had a hard time getting through the scripts,” Russell said about the Paramount+ show. “They just kept hitting me really hard, and I felt that that was a big part of this show's potential, ability to grab an audience. Its writing was so authentic.”
He continued: “It was so powerful for it to have a serious, true love relationship with someone, and then for one of those people to go, and for the other to realize they didn’t know how good it was – that they didn’t know there was so much more to it, and they’re not going to let that go.”
Although they have never married, Russell and Hawn have been together since 1983. The longtime couple first met on the set of Disney movie The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band in 1966, and started dating after reuniting 15 years later on the set of Swing Shift.
Russell told Men’s Health last month that he relates to his character on The Madison because “some of the conversations that [Preston and Stacy] have, I've had.”
“Goldie and I have had very similar conversations,” he told the outlet. “Their relationship, it's the kind of relationship you almost never see anymore. It's a truly loving relationship. It's not like there's another shoe to drop. That's what makes it so difficult for [Michelle's] character when she loses her husband. She's realizing how much more they could have had that they didn't have because of something she didn't do.”
He added, “I think a lot of people relate to that kind of regret. As you get older and you've only got so much time left, that doubles things up in terms of looking at what you've done in your life so far and what you want to do with the rest of your life.”
Russell and Hawn share their 39-year-old son Wyatt. Russell also helped raise Hawn’s son and daughter, Oliver and Kate Hudson, and has a son, Boston, from his previous relationship.
The final episodes of The Madison’s first season aired March 21. The show was renewed for a second season and is expected to return early next year.
© Independent Digital News & Media Ltd