Why ‘The Madison’ Is Dedicated to Robert Redford — His ‘Yellowstone’ Connection Explained

The first episode of The Madison is devoted to the late Robert Redford.While there is a reference to one in every of his movies within the first episode, that is not the one motive the actor/director was honored by the Taylor Sheridan drama in its finish credit. Redford has private ties to Yellowstone and, in accordance to The Madison‘s director, his cinematic affect bleeds all through the collection. Warning: The Madison spoilers forward!

The Madison is a profound love story channeled by way of a deeply private household drama about resilience and transformation. It unfolds throughout two distinct worlds — the attractive panorama of Montana and the colourful power of Manhattan — because it examines the ties that bind households collectively after an sudden tragedy. The collection stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell because the central couple, Stacy and Preston Clyburnwhose love story is the foundational middle for his or her whole New York City-based household. The first three of six episodes got here out on March 14 on Paramount+, with the final three to observe on March 21.

There’s a reference to Redford’s A River Runs Through It in Season 1 of The Madison. But his affect on the collection — and Sheridan’s work at giant — goes past simply that.

Why is The Madison devoted to Robert Redford?

There’s a dedication to Redford in the long run credit of Episode 1. Redford died on September 16, 2025. The late star did not work on the collection, however Redford’s westerns, each those he starred in and directed, have been massively influential to Sheridan and his western TV exhibits. In truth, Redford was initially going to play John Dutton in Yellowstone.

Sheridan informed The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 that, when he was first making an attempt to get Yellowstone made, he had a face-to-face assembly with Redford to strive to persuade him to be within the present. He was initially pitching the collection to HBO.

“They said, ‘We want Robert Redford,’” Sheridan informed THR. “They said, ‘If you can get us Robert Redford, we’ll greenlight the pilot.’” Sheridan hit the bottom working.

“I drove to Sundance [the film festival Redford founded] and spend the day with him, and he agrees to play John Dutton,” Sheridan said. “I call the senior vice president in charge of production and say, ‘I got him!’ ‘You got who?’ ‘Robert Redford.’ ‘What?!‘ ‘You said if I got Robert Redford, you’d greenlight the show.’”

“And he says — and you can’t make this shit up — ‘We meant a Robert Redford type,’” Sherdian added.

Paramount finally greenlit Yellowstonewith Kevin Costner within the lead position. That was the tip of Redford’s ties to Sheridan’s hit drama, however his affect remained.

Redford directed A River Runs Through It. The Clyburns watch the Brad Pitt-led movie of their lodge room after they get to Montana following the tragic deaths of Preston (Russell) and Paul Clyburn (Matthew Fox), as a result of it was Preston’s favourite film (it is also set in Montana). The brothers died in a aircraft crash as they tried to fly dwelling earlier than a foul storm hit the world the place they have been fishing. Paul was the pilot, and Preston was the one passenger.

At The Madison premiere in New York City on March 9, director/cinematographer Christina Alexandra Voros TV Insider informed that the dedication was completely Sheridan’s determination, however she totally endorses it.

“I can’t speak to the decision that was entirely Taylor’s. What I will say is, anyone who sees the show will understand why it is a love letter in many ways to a world that Redford certainly introduced to me,” Voros stated. “His name as a tribute at the end of that episode feels like the absolutely appropriate move to make.”

Redford’s westerns set on sprawling American landscapes have been a visible inspiration for all of Sheridan’s tales within the style, however The Madisonspecifically, is all about falling in love with the land when experiencing it for the primary time — one thing that, as Voros stated, Redford’s movies did for her.

“Yellowstone is a story about people who have had a relationship to the land for generations, centuries, and madisonfor many of the cast, it is their understanding of a place for the first time, seeing that landscape with fresh eyes,” Voros stated.

“There was a lot of thought that went into how the world and the river and the mountains look the first time you see it,” she continued, “and how that changes as their perspective changes, experiencing the place themselves,” she explains.

The Madison, Season 1 Part 2 (three episodes), Premieres Saturday, March 21, Paramount+