Kurt Russell Admits His Most Beloved Cult Classic Movies Were Originally ‘Dead on Arrival'

At 75 years old, Kurt Russell is enjoying his time on TV.

The actor recently spoke to Deadlineat the Monte-Carlo TV Festival, where he received the prestigious Crystal Nymph award.

"I hadn't done any television for over 50 years when I did Monarch, and then TheMadison," the actor shared.

He currently stars as Preston Clyburn in Paramount+'s 2026 series The Madison. It follows a family after they suffer a difficult tragedy and move from New York City to the Madison River Valley of Central Montana.

"You keep finding yourself saying, ‘I know that moment,' or ‘I know those people,'" he said.

"It's really an adult-themed show, because you can't really appreciate [the story] until you have something like that happen to you at a certain time in your life," he said. "I've never done anything like The Madison in terms of how it hits people."

The show was created by Taylor Sheridan, who also made Yellowstone, 1883, and Lioness. Russell admires the relatability of his work. Adding the showrunner attracts "the silent majority."

The Madison stars Michelle Pfeiffer, Kurt Russell, BeauGarrett, Patrick J. Adams, and ElleChapman.

The Tombstone actor spoke highly of his castmates as well.

"Very few people have the opportunity to have a wonderful 40-year marriage, but where you had no idea how wonderful it was, like Michelle's character [Stacy Clyburn]. How do you show that, how do you talk about that? She's so wrought with not just guilt, but angst and anger at herself for not getting all of him," he said.

The neo-Western series has seen commercial success, debuting with 8 million views worldwide. It was Sheridan's most-watched season launch.

Russell reflected on how his previous projects performed.

"A lot of the movies that I did that became truly beloved or cult classics were just dead on arrival, or they didn't do very well [at first]. Had it not been for DVDs, my career would have been completely different," he said. "I probably have 12 or 15 movies that are in the zeitgeist [and] people love, not from the release of the movie, but from finding it years later."

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This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 4:12 PM.