Kurt Russell Birth Chart: The Astrology Behind The Madison Star's Late-Career Fire
Kurt Russell hasn't had to prove anything to anyone in decades — and that might be exactly why The Madison works. His Pisces Sun, Cancer Moon, and Scorpio Rising tell the story of an actor who leads with instinct and builds for the long haul.
By Sera Vane·April 8, 2026·Updated May 18, 2026AI-assisted, editor-reviewed
Kurt Russell hasn't had to prove anything to anyone in decades — and that might be exactly why The Madison works. Taylor Sheridan's latest Paramount+ drama pulled 8 million views in its first ten days, and at the center of it is a 75-year-old Pisces Sun with a Scorpio ascendant who's been doing this since he was literally a child actor for Disney. Russell's birth chart doesn't just explain his career longevity. It explains why, at an age when most actors are doing cameos and voice work, he's anchoring an entire franchise.
The Water Foundation: Scorpio Rising, Pisces Sun, Cancer Moon
Three water signs. Three different registers of emotional intelligence. Russell's Scorpio ascendant — the sign that governs the mask we wear in public — gives him that don't-mess-with-me intensity, the physical presence that made him perfect for Snake Plissken and Jack Burton. But the Pisces Sun in the fourth house tells a different story entirely. The fourth house governs home, roots, and private life — the part of yourself you protect from the world. This is a man who'd rather be on his ranch in Colorado than at a premiere. His Sun sits conjunct Jupiter at Pisces 21°, and Jupiter amplifies everything it touches. Here, it amplifies Russell's need for a rich inner life over public validation. The bigger the role, the less he seems to care about the spotlight around it.
The Moon in Cancer in the eighth house adds the final layer. The eighth house deals in transformation, shared resources, and what stays hidden — the emotional basement of the chart. Cancer Moon people feel everything; they just don't always show it. Russell's Moon forms a trine — the easy-flow, 120-degree angle — to both his Pisces Sun and his Scorpio ascendant, creating what's called a grand water trine. Think of it as an unbroken circuit of emotional intelligence: instinct feeds intuition feeds presence feeds instinct again. It's the chart signature of someone who can walk into a room and read it without trying, who understands what a scene needs before anyone calls action. He's never been the actor who breaks down in interviews or writes confessional memoirs. He processes in private. The water runs deep and stays underground.
The Aries Engine: Three Planets in Fire
For a chart this saturated in water, Russell has three planets in Aries — Mercury at 3°, Mars at 12°, and Venus at 26° — clustered in the fourth and fifth houses. That's fire in the personal and creative sectors. Mercury in Aries thinks fast, talks direct, and doesn't workshop opinions through committee. Mars in Aries in the fifth house — the house of performance and creative self-expression — is the placement of someone who acts with their whole body. Not method. Not cerebral. Physical. Watch him in The Thing or Tombstone and you're watching Mars in the fifth house doing exactly what it was built to do.
Venus in Aries at 26° in the fifth house is equally telling. Venus governs what we're drawn to and how we express affection. In Aries, Venus loves the chase, the bold gesture, the new frontier. In the fifth house, that translates to a creative life fueled by passion rather than calculation. Russell has never been strategic about his career in the way that, say, a Capricorn Sun might be. He picks roles that excite him — Big Trouble in Little China, Escape from New York, cult films that weren't guaranteed hits. That's Venus in Aries energy: choosing adventure over safety, every time.
The tension between all that Aries fire and the water-sign foundation is what makes Russell's screen presence so distinctive. He's tough but not cold. Intense but not cruel. The water gives him empathy; the fire gives him the nerve to act on it. It's the same dynamic you see in Bryan Cranston's chart, where Pisces sensitivity powers performances that feel dangerous rather than soft.
Saturn Retrograde in Virgo: The Long Game
Saturn retrograde in Virgo at 29° — the final degree of the sign, what astrologers call an anaretic degree — sits in Russell's tenth house of career and public reputation. Saturn in the tenth house means you earn your status the hard way. Nothing is handed to you, and what you build tends to last. The retrograde adds a twist: Saturn retrograde natives often come into their professional power later than expected, or in waves rather than a steady climb. Child actor for Disney. Action star in his thirties. A stretch of quieter work. Then Tarantino cast him in The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and suddenly he was relevant to a new generation. Now The Madison. Saturn at 29° Virgo doesn't retire. It just keeps refining.
That Saturn opposes his Pisces Sun — a push-pull between the dreamer and the disciplinarian, between what he feels and what he's willing to build. Sun-Saturn opposition people often have complicated relationships with authority and with fathers. Russell's father was a minor league baseball player turned actor who steered his son into the business early. But the opposition also creates resilience you can't fake. You can't knock these people down permanently. They get back up, and they get better.
The Transit Picture: Why April 2026 Is His Moment
The current transits hitting Russell's chart are unusually active for someone in his mid-seventies. Neptune at Aries 2° is sitting almost exactly on his natal Mercury at Aries 3° — less than a degree of separation. Neptune conjunct Mercury dissolves the boundary between conscious thought and intuition. It's the transit of the artist who's channeling something rather than constructing it. For an actor in the middle of a press tour, this means interviews that feel unusually candid, moments of unguarded honesty that make audiences lean in. Mars is also conjoining Neptune in Aries this month, doubling down on that dissolution between instinct and expression right on top of Russell's natal Mercury.
Transit Mercury at Pisces 22° is conjunct his natal Jupiter at Pisces 21° — the tightest hit in his chart right now, separated by barely a tenth of a degree. Mercury-Jupiter conjunctions expand communication. This is the transit of the viral quote, the interview clip that circulates because it captures something real. Meanwhile, transit Mars at Pisces 29° is approaching his natal Sun at Pisces 26°. Mars conjunct Sun transits are activating — they boost energy, visibility, and the drive to put yourself out there. For Russell, this is happening in the fourth house, suggesting this burst of public visibility is paradoxically connected to something deeply personal. The Madison isn't just another job. The role, like the ranch setting of Sheridan's universe, connects to Russell's fourth-house need for home as a source of identity.
Jupiter in Cancer at 16° is also approaching his natal Moon at Cancer 23°. Jupiter conjunct Moon is one of the warmest transits in astrology — it expands emotional generosity, public goodwill, and the feeling that the world is on your side. It won't perfect until later this year, but the approach is already building that wave of public affection that The Madison's viewership numbers reflect. It's similar to the Jupiter activation we tracked in Goldie Hawn's chart — Russell's partner of over four decades, whose own Scorpio depth mirrors his rising sign.
Why The Madison Hits Different
There's a reason The Madison resonates differently from Russell's earlier action work. At 75, with Saturn retrograde in his tenth house having completed multiple cycles of professional reinvention, he's past the point of performing ambition. What's left is the Pisces Sun-Jupiter conjunction in the fourth house: a man rooted in his own mythology, unbothered by the industry's need for constant reinvention. Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone universe rewards that quality — his characters feel lived-in because the actor playing them isn't trying to be anything other than what he is.
John Travolta's Cannes pivot shows what late-career reinvention looks like when an actor moves behind the camera. Russell is doing the opposite — staying in front of it, letting transiting Neptune on his Mercury dissolve the last barriers between character and self. The North Node in Pisces at 18° — representing soul direction and karmic growth — conjunct both his Sun and Jupiter, confirms what his career has always suggested: Kurt Russell was meant to be exactly the kind of actor he is. Not showy. Not desperate. Not performing status. Just present, committed, and trusting his instincts. Sophie Turner carries a similar Pisces Sun quality — that ability to channel vulnerability as strength rather than weakness.
What is Kurt Russell's zodiac sign?
Kurt Russell is a Pisces Sun, born March 17, 1951. His chart also features a Cancer Moon and Scorpio rising, making him a triple water sign — one of the most emotionally intuitive combinations in the zodiac. His Pisces Sun sits in the fourth house, emphasizing home and private life over public ambition.
What is Kurt Russell's rising sign?
Kurt Russell's rising sign is Scorpio at 22 degrees. Scorpio rising gives him that intense physical presence and magnetic screen quality that defined roles in Escape from New York and The Thing. Combined with his Pisces Sun, it creates someone who leads with instinct rather than calculation.
What planets does Kurt Russell have in Aries?
Kurt Russell has three planets in Aries: Mercury at 3 degrees, Mars at 12 degrees, and Venus at 26 degrees. This concentration of personal planets in one fire sign gives him the bold, physical energy and creative courage that defines his acting style and career choices across six decades.
What transits are affecting Kurt Russell in April 2026?
In April 2026, Neptune at Aries 2 degrees is conjunct Russell's natal Mercury, dissolving barriers between instinct and expression. Transit Mars near his Pisces Sun boosts visibility, while Jupiter approaching his Cancer Moon builds public warmth — aligning with The Madison's massive premiere viewership numbers.
Are Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn astrologically compatible?
Russell's Scorpio rising aligns directly with Hawn's Scorpio Sun, creating immediate recognition of shared intensity. His Cancer Moon provides the emotional security her chart craves, while their respective fire placements keep the relationship dynamic rather than stagnant after four decades together.
