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

The first episode of The Madison is dedicated to the late Robert Redford. While there’s a reference to one of his films in the first episode, that’s not the only reason the actor/director was honored by the Taylor Sheridan drama in its end credits. Redford has personal ties to Yellowstone and, according to The Madison‘s director, his cinematic influence bleeds throughout The Madison. Warning: The Madison spoilers ahead!

The Madison is a profound love story channeled through a deeply personal family drama about resilience and transformation. It unfolds across two distinct worlds — the beautiful landscape of Montana and the vibrant energy of Manhattan — as it examines the ties that bind families together after an unexpected tragedy. The series stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell as the central couple, Stacy and Preston Clyburn, whose love story is the foundational center for their entire New York City-based family. The first three of six episodes came out on March 14 on Paramount+, with the last three to follow on March 21.

There’s a reference to Redford’s A River Runs Through It in Season 1 of The Madison. But his influence on the series — and Sheridan’s work at large — goes beyond just that.

Why is The Madison dedicated to Robert Redford?

There’s a dedication to Redford in the end credits of Episode 1. The late star didn’t work on the series, but Redford’s westerns, both the ones he starred in and directed, were hugely influential to Sheridan and his western TV shows. In fact, Redford was originally going to play John Dutton in Yellowstone.

Sheridan told The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 that, when he was first trying to get Yellowstone made, he had a face-to-face meeting with Redford to try to convince him to be in the show. He was originally pitching the series to HBO.

“They said, ‘We want Robert Redford,'” Sheridan told THR. “They said, ‘If you can get us Robert Redford, we’ll greenlight the pilot.'” Sheridan hit the ground running.

“I drive 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.

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Paramount eventually greenlit Yellowstone, with Kevin Costner in the lead role. That was the end of Redford’s ties to Sheridan’s hit drama, but his influence remained.

Redford directed A River Runs Through It. The Clyburns watch the Brad Pitt-led film in their hotel room when they get to Montana following the tragic deaths of Preston (Russell) and Paul Clyburn (Matthew Fox), because it was Preston’s favorite movie (it’s also set in Montana). The brothers died in a plane crash as they tried to fly home before a bad storm hit the area where they were fishing. Paul was the pilot, and Preston was the only passenger.

At The Madison premiere in New York City on March 9, director/cinematographer Christina Alexandra Voros told TV Insider that the dedication was entirely Sheridan’s decision, but she fully 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 said. “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 were a visual inspiration for all of Sheridan’s stories in the genre, but The Madison, in particular, is all about falling in love with the land when experiencing it for the first time — something that, as Voros said, Redford’s films did for her.

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

“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+