Her Lioness co-star is off to Landman, but Zoe Saldaña says one Taylor Sheridan show is all she can handle
Zoe Saldaña has poured cold water on hopes of another Taylor Sheridan role, with the Lioness star on Paramount+ explaining why she isn’t jumping into a second show.
If you were angling for a Zoe Saldaña cameo in yet another Taylor Sheridan series, you may want to swap your bingo card. Despite being central to Paramount+'s buzzy spy thriller Lioness, Saldaña is putting her foot firmly down: one Sheridan project is plenty, thank you very much.
The Oscar-winner shoulders a fair old load on Lioness, where she stars as CIA operative Joe McNamara and doubles as executive producer. It's not just about showing up, hitting her mark, and calling it a day—she’s embedded months before cameras even roll. When asked whether she'd step into any of Sheridan's other TV frontiers (the man does churn 'em out), Saldaña was refreshingly blunt.
At 48, Saldaña told People, 'I think that Joe McNamara and Lioness is all that I can handle at this time.'
It’s not hard to see why. She’s top of the call sheet, first one on set, last one off, and her workload kicks off long before the rest of the team clock in. She says there’s simply no headspace for moonlighting on Sheridan’s latest oil-rigger drama or ranch hand melodrama. Or as she put it, she can't imagine picking up more of the Sheridan universe when she’s already at full tilt with Lioness.
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Still, the experience hasn’t left her jaded. If anything, Saldaña reckons Sheridan’s sussed out her work ethic, and knows she brings “honesty”, “toughness” and a touch of stubbornness to her role. To quote her directly (if you’re into slight modesty mixed with self-awareness):
“I have my views, and I come with all heart, all brains, all muscle at all times. So, no, I think I’m good here at Lioness.”
The Taylor Sheridan Extended Universe
Interestingly, her co-star Michael Kelly—he plays CIA Deputy Director Byron Westfield—has no such qualms. He's already branching out in the Sheridan-verse, recently cast in the upcoming third season of Landman. So it's not company policy to stick to one show—the cast is free to wander, if they've got the stamina.
Future of Lioness?
When it comes to a potential Lioness Season 4, even Saldaña hasn't a clue. She admits she has no idea if they'll even make it that far, let alone what particular covert chaos Sheridan might cook up for her character should they return.
Lioness could go beyond three series, but Saldaña says she hasn't been told whether a fourth is happening.