Why Matthew Fox Took Extended Hollywood Hiatus Before New Taylor Sheridan Series 'The Madison'
Lost star Matthew Fox has been found, starring in Taylor Sheridan's new series following a break from Hollywood.
The actor appears on Sheridan's new Paramount+ TV show The Madison, which was originally announced as a Yellowstone spinoff before it evolved into a standalone project separate from the Yellowstone universe. The show stars Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer.
It's a return to television for Fox, who rose to fame on Party of Five in the '90s before breaking out big on ABC's juggernaut Lost from 2004 to 2010. After following up the latter with a number of films—including Alex Cross and Bone Tomahawk—he took an extended break from acting, stepping away from the business from 2015 until 2022.
Speaking with Variety at the premiere of The Madison on Monday night in New York City, Fox explained what was behind his hiatus.
"I felt like it was time to engage really intensely with my family. I had missed some of their childhood because I was on set all the time with Lost and doing films and promoting everything," he said. "It was the right moment for me to step back and take a moment and engage with the people that I love and care about most in the world and I did that and I kind of missed storytelling and this opportunity came along from Taylor and I was like, 'Yeah, I'm in.'"
Matthew Fox on his long acting hiatus after #Lost:
— Variety (@Variety) March 10, 2026
“I felt like it was time to engage really intensely with my family. I had missed some of their childhood because I was on set all the time with ‘Lost’ and doing films.” pic.twitter.com/aYcwoSbusY
He echoed that sentiment in another interview with CBS Mornings.
"I left for a while. It was a time in our life I wanted to focus on family. Kids were at ages I felt it was important to re-engage with their lives. I missed some of that...for me, it's always about the material...I felt compelled to do it."
Fox said he was "very excited" to work with his Bone Tomahawk costar, Russell, again on this project. The pair play brothers on the series.
Fox's Hiatus Came Amid Tabloid Controversy
Around the time he was filming one of his final projects before his break, the 2012 movie AlexCross, he was accused of drunkenly punching a female bus driver in Cleveland. He was also arrested in 2012 for DUI, before his Lost costar Dominic Monaghan claimed on social media the actor "beats women."
He adamantly denied any allegations of abuse while speaking with Men's Fitness that same year.
"It's been a long, trying year of sitting on my hands on a lot of negative s--t said about me, when they're the furthest things from who I am. That I beat a woman in Cleveland when in fact I was assaulted by a man and did nothing but retaliate against him?" he said at the time. "The 46 years I've been breathing on this planet, I have never hit a woman before. Never have, never will. But I think there's still gonna be a lot of people out there who'll think it's true no matter what the f—k I say. Out of all the negative s--t, the only thing that's true is that I was arrested for DUI."
"The rest of it—the Cleveland situation, the [Dominic] Monaghan situation— was a pile of bulls--t, and I'm not gonna waste too much breath on that."
What to Know About The Madison
Per Paramount+, The Madison is Sheridan's "most intimate work to date, unfolding across two distinct worlds - the beautiful landscape of Montana and the vibrant energy of Manhattan - as it examines the ties that bind families together."
The series will introduce the Clyburn family, in what the streamer said is "a heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana."
The series also stars Beau Garrett, Elle Chapman, Patrick J. Adams, Amiah Miller, Kevin Zegers and Will Arnett and has already been renewed for a second season.
While Seasons 1 and 2 for The Madison have already been filmed, Fox also told TV Insider he'll only appear in the first season. "This is a contained experience for me in the show, and I'm very happy about that," he said, adding, "It's been an incredible experience."
The first six-episode season drops March 14, 2026.