Patrick J. Adams Told Me The ‘Stupid’ Thing He Did To ‘Diminish’ His Fear Of Michelle Pfeiffer While Working With Her On The Madison

I’d imagine that if you join a Taylor Sheridan show, finding out which A-list actor is leading it has to be equal parts exciting and terrifying. From Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren to Zoe Saldaña to Billy Bob Thornton and more, these projects have set a precedent that an absolute legend will be No. 1 on his call sheets. Season 1 of The Madison maintains it, too, as Michelle Pfeiffer is the leader of it. So, I asked Patrick J. Adams about working on the show with her, and he joked about the “stupid” thing he did to “diminish” his fear of her.

Now, to make something clear right away, Adams has a deep admiration for Pfeiffer, and he noted how much he adored working with her during our interview. However, he also said he was “terrified” of her, I’d assume because she’s such a massive and legendary star. So, how did he get over that fear? Well, his methods didn’t really work, as the actor told me during an interview for CinemaBlend:

I've been terrified of her since day one. You know what I did, too? It’s so stupid. I was so scared of her. And I was like, ‘You know what I think I'll do to, like, diminish my fear is I will spend all my time while we were shooting, at first, watching all of her movies again.’ Like, that was a good idea. So I'd show up to set like, having watched Age of Innocence, and be like, ‘Now I have to shoot a scene with Michelle Pfeiffer. What am I doing?’ Especially because she's so disinterested in any of that. She's like, ‘Stop, put it away, don't.’

You know, if I had watched Age of Innocence (you can currently do that right now with Tubi), which came from one of the best decades of Martin Scorsese’s career, I too would be even more nervous to act alongside Michelle Pfeiffer. So, I see what Adams was saying here.

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After that, Elle Chapman, who plays his Adams’ wife and Pfeiffer’s daughter in The Madison, joked that he kept quoting the legendary actress. And the Suits star quipped that “that’s awkward.”

However, all jokes aside, he had nothing but praise for Michelle Pfeiffer, as he ended his comment with:

She is the dream number one on a show. She comes so full and prepared and excited to work with great ideas, but also so excited for your input. She's not precious about it. She’s kind. She's the absolute dream. So she's made this a wonderful process.

Well, I’m very happy that Patrick J. Adams seemingly worked past his fear of Michelle Pfeiffer. However, I was also quite charmed by this story. It goes to show how much love and respect The Madison cast has for its lead, and it is a clear indicator of just how legendary the actress is.

Now, if you want to see Michelle Pfeiffer and Patrick J. Adams acting alongside each other, The Madison will premiere on the 2026 TV schedule on Saturday, March 13. The first three episodes will drop for people with a Paramount+ subscription, and then the second set of three episodes will follow next Saturday. So, we’re about to have a lot of Michelle Pfeiffer on our screen, and you better believe I’ll be thinking about this story Adams told me.

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Riley Utley is the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. She has written for national publications as well as daily and alt-weekly newspapers in Spokane, Washington, Syracuse, New York and Charleston, South Carolina. She graduated with her master’s degree in arts journalism and communications from the Newhouse School at Syracuse University. Since joining the CB team she has covered numerous TV shows and movies -- including her personal favorite shows Ted Lasso and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She also has followed and consistently written about everything from Taylor Swift to Fire Country, and she's enjoyed every second of it.

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