Actress Michelle Pfeiffer has opened up about the difficulties she faced while trying to adjust to the very rugged and rural conditions on the set of her hit “Yellowstone” spinoff, “The Madison.”
The 67-year-old actress spent several months shooting the series in Montana and Texas, areas that she described as “breathtakingly glorious.”
But beyond the scenery, Pfeiffer, who plays Stacy Clyburn in the TV show, says the conditions were less than ideal. During an appearance on the Los Angeles Times’ podcast “In Conversation: The Madison,” she revealed that the show’s stars had little to no access to some very basic amenities.
“You may as well be in a tent because, you know, there is no bathroom. Even the outhouse is not real,” the actress, who starred alongside Kurt Russell in the show, explained. “So there’s no AC, there’s no plumbing, there isn’t anything. But it is breathtakingly glorious.”
She explained that the lack of amenities was due, in large part, to the “rushed” process of getting the Clyburn ranch set up, combined with the decision not to have trailers on location to ensure they weren’t seen in the background of any shots.
“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. We didn’t really have a trailers there because they were shooting 360 [degrees]. So, they couldn’t have a bunch of trailers around,” she said.
Conditions were made that much more difficult by the fact that shooting took place across several seasons, which meant that the cast and crew were dealing with different weather conditions.
“There was really no place for us to sit. There was no bathroom nearby. There was no food. And in the winter, it was cold,” the actress added. “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.”
While “The Madison” was filmed on location in Texas and Montana, the bulk of the scenes involving the Clyburn ranch were shot at a real-life working ranch property in Three Forks, MT.
Pfeiffer has previously opened up about the big undertaking she committed to in accepting her role in the show.
The showrunner, Taylor Sheridan, didn’t have a script for the series when she signed on, Pfeiffer explained to The Hollywood Reporter.
“[Taylor] wanted to know who Stacy was before he started writing. I wanted to know who Stacy is before I committed. And so we went back and forth like that for a little while, and it became clear to me I wasn’t going to win this battle,” she said.
Luckily, help was on hand in the form of Helen Mirren, who starred in Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” prequel, “1923,” and was able to offer some insights into what working with the TV producer is like.
“I asked Helen Mirren to speak to me about her experience,” Pfeiffer shared, joking that she was desperate to “know something concrete about this guy, this project” before committing.
“And she just glowed; she couldn’t say enough nice things. She said the scripts were great, the productions were perfect,” Pfeiffer revealed. “She was having the time of her life; she loved Montana. So I took a big leap of faith, and I committed. I thought, ‘Well, the guy has a pretty darn good track record.'”
As it turns out, Pfeiffer’s instincts—and Mirren’s review—were wholly accurate and “The Madison” went on to become one of Sheridan’s top-performing shows, with its first episode drawing 8 million viewers within 10 days of its debut.
Just days after the final episodes were released, the series was renewed for a second season.
Unlike Sheridan’s “Yellowstone,” which focuses on a legacy ranch in Montana, “The Madison” follows a wealthy New York family who relocate to the Treasure State.
The show is set primarily in the Madison River Valley, near Ennis, MT, a small town with a population of just 700.
However, that number could soon grow as a result of the show’s success, according to local real estate agent Chase Heiland, who previously revealed to Realtor.com® that he’d seen a great deal of interest from New Yorkers eager to live out their own rancher dream.
“I had some clients from New York who bought land in Ennis with plans to build their retirement home there someday,” Heiland explained.
That interest carried on the influx of prospective buyers who reached out to Heiland in the wake of the “Yellowstone” premiere, many of whom admitted to him that they had never even set foot in Montana before expressing a desire to live there.
“I do recall getting calls from people who said, ‘I saw “Yellowstone,” I want to move there,’ and when I’d ask if they’d ever been here before, they’d say no,” he shared.
He added that New Yorkers, and city dwellers in general, seem to be drawn to the region’s most idyllic offerings, including its wide-open spaces, ranch lifestyle, and recreational activities such as skiing and fly-fishing.
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