Sharing a ‘Purple’ Passion : ACTING TOGETHER ON A MYTHIC WESTERN FULFILLS A PROJECT STARTED 10 YEARS AGO

In a 1985 Life magazine interview, then-newlyweds Ed Harris and Amy Madigan revealed they were developing an adaptation of Zane Grey’s classic western “Riders of the Purple Sage” as a starring vehicle for themselves.

After a 10-year-plus gestation period, Harris and Madigan, both 45, have finally brought Grey’s dark western adventure to the screen, albeit, the small one. The couple are executive producers and stars of the fifth screen version of “Riders,” which premieres Sunday on TNT.

When they are reminded of the decade-old article, Harris rolls his baby blue eyes and smiles while Madigan breaks into a hearty laugh. “That will give you an indication of how persistent you have to be to get your project done in this town,” she says.

Harris, who was considered a strong awards contender for his performance in “Apollo 13,” points out that they haven’t been working on the project consistently over the years. Harris acquired the rights to the 1912 novel in the early ‘80s after he fell in love with the horse opera when he read it in Pittsburgh filming “Knightriders.”

After obtaining the rights, Harris hired Gill Dennis to adapt the book. “We worked on it for a couple of years,” says Harris. “We haphazardly shopped it around. We went to a few places and nobody was really interested. We weren’t really happy with the script at that time and we got busy doing other things and dropped it in 1987.”

Several years later, the script was unearthed at Turner. “I don’t know where they got it,” Harris says. “They talked to us about it and they decided to do it. We got back together with Gill and reworked the script, which actually was not as off the mark as I had kind of been feeling it was over the years. We did some more work on it and we got it to a place we felt very good about it. That’s the script that we shot.”

Directed by Charles Haid, “Riders” was filmed last summer in and around picturesque Moab, Utah. Madigan plays Jane Withersteen, a wealthy single Mormon struggling to hold on to her ranch. Harris is the mysterious drifter named Lassiter she turns to in her time of need. Henry Thomas (“E.T.” and “Legends of the Fall”) also stars.

“This is not, like, a nice, toasty, golden-brown cowboy movie,” Madigan says. “It’s dark. There is a lot of repression and guilt and a lot of secrets. It’s very much an old-time western. It’s very dramatic and melodramatic. It’s like an adult western as opposed to a yahoo, shoot-’em-up western.”

Lassiter, who is the archetype for such laconic western loners as Shane and Hondo, has been searching 13 years for the man responsible for kidnapping his married sister Millie and her child.

“He’s been riding his horse and doing what he has to do to find out who this guy is and where he is,” Harris explains. “He has spent a lot of time by himself. I know she knows who this man is. Lassiter becomes more and more a part of her life as the story goes on.”

Madigan believes that “Riders” has a mythic quality about it. “There’s a largeness to a good western and there’s a largeness and a big mythic quality to [Jane and Lassiter],” says Madigan. The actress also finds it a realistic love story. “It’s about giving yourself over to somebody,” she says glancing over at her husband in their Beverly Hills hotel suite. “About when you really love somebody. It’s a love story. Not a dating, cute little love story. ...”

As much as Madigan loved playing Jane, she acknowledges she always has been frightened by the character. “She has a real sense of purity and grace ... I will never meet up to that mark. I don’t have that. But once I put those things away, I just kind of fell in love with her. She’s a very strange woman--repressed in a lot of ways and tightly wound.”

Harris also was intimidated with the idea that he would be walking in Lassiter’s boots. “I was thinking, ‘How could I possibly play this Lassiter guy?’ He’s, like, the first, greatest, best western kind of hero guy. But then once you are committed to doing it and you start reading it out aloud and you get your wardrobe together, you go, ‘OK,’ and you just dive in there. You realize the guy is a human being.”

“Riders” marks the third film in which Harris and Madigan have appeared together. They previously starred in 1984’s “Places in the Heart” and 1985’s “Alamo Bay.” They also have co-starred on stage in two projects.

Acting together, Harris says almost shyly, “is the best. It’s great. She is really a great actress, a wonderful person to work with. It’s really fulfilling to work with her. I can’t believe we haven’t worked together in 10 years.”

“I, for one, am glad that we didn’t do this 10 years ago,” Madigan adds. “I am much more prepared and a better person and actor now. It’s great how it worked out this way. But this working together is just really great. You get to share the thing you love to do more than anything else with that person who you love. I don’t recommend it for everybody, but for us, it’s great to have that total involvement with a person. He’s a really great actor and I don’t get to work with that many great actors.”

“Riders of the Purple Sage” airs Sunday Sunday at 5, 7, and 9 p.m. on TNT; it repeats Tuesday at 8 p.m., Jan. 28 at 8 a.m. and Jan. 31 at 5 p.m.