EXCLUSIVE: Richard Dreyfuss Brings Bernie Madoff's Saga to the Small Screen

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ET was first on the set of ABC's miniseries, Madoff, about the man who pulled off one of the greatest cons in history.

Bernie Madoff, currently serving a 150-year prison sentence, defrauded thousands of investors out of nearly $65 billion in the largest Ponzi scheme ever. Now, Richard Dreyfuss is playing the former stockbroker on the small screen, while Blythe Danner is playing Madoff's wife, Ruth, who was unaware of the scandal.

"It's really complicated. I think they did love each other very deeply," Danner told ET. "I don't know if she ever absorbed what happened. I don't believe she knew."

The role is personal for the Oscar winner, as he has friends who lost money to Madoff.

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"We've talked to victims and none of them were millionaires," Dreyfuss said. "They were secretaries and contractors, and everyone assumes, even their oldest friends, 'Wow! You lost money? You must be really rich.' They weren't, and they are not ... It's not only the rich who got hurt."

The chemistry came easy for Dreyfuss and Danner -- they practically came up in the business together. They first worked together in theater in 1971.

"I'm exhausted after one scene, and he just goes on and on," Danner gushed about her co-star. "He's always brilliant, always changing, always thinking, always digging deeper. It's the kind of actor you want to always work with."

Madoff airs Feb. 3 and 4 on ABC.