Garrett, 51, had a breakout role in Sheridan\u2019s \u201cYellowstone\u201d prequel \u201c1883\u201d<\/a> as Thomas, a Pinkerton agent who befriends Sam Elliott\u2019s Shea Brennon. The show filmed across North Texas, including in Weatherford and Fort Worth, back in 2021.<\/p>\n Just a few years later, Sheridan recruited Garrett into his spy thriller series \u201cLioness,\u201d<\/a> where he plays Tucker. For seasons 2 and 3, the show made a home base in Cowtown.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey take care of you out there and they love Taylor, he\u2019s a hometown kid,\u201d Garrett said on working in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac In case you missed it: <\/p>\n Ahead of \u201cLioness\u201d episode 5, which premiered on Sunday, Aug. 30, Garrett spoke to the Star-Telegram about the show.<\/p>\n He also chatted about how the filmmaking scene in Fort Worth has evolved over the years from his time on \u201c1883.\u201d There may be a spoiler or two in there about \u201cLioness,\u201d so it\u2019s best to be caught up through the fifth episode.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n Star-Telegram: We\u2019re three seasons into \u201cLioness.\u201d What still excites you about this show and makes you ready to come into work each day?<\/p>\n LaMonica Garrett: I think Taylor [Sheridan] writing these words. You\u2019re experiencing something, and it\u2019s going to be something like you haven\u2019t seen before when Taylor\u2019s behind it. It\u2019s just getting to show up with people that you love, like your friends. You can call them friends now. They\u2019re family. They\u2019re friends. This is the longest I\u2019ve been on a season or a project. The longest I was on something before was two seasons, and this right now we\u2019re on three, and hopefully we get a fourth. We\u2019ll see how that goes.<\/p>\n But you just grow with these people, and when we\u2019re not filming, we\u2019re out in Fort Worth at the Stockyards, at Chumley House, at Billy Bob\u2019s [Texas]. We get out and we have fun together. That camaraderie that we\u2019ve built away from the camera, it translates when we\u2019re all together on screen. It starts with Taylor, and it ends up with all of us just loving each other and being there for each other.<\/p>\n S-T: That reminds me a line that Tucker says in this episode that \u201cthe perks of this job are endless.\u201d<\/p>\n LG: Tucker saying that, that resonates with every actor away from the scene. The perks of this job are endless. We get to say Taylor\u2019s words, and we get to show up to work each day. But a lot of people can\u2019t say that right now, so we\u2019re all grateful.<\/p>\n S-T: The new wrinkle this season is the dual timeline narrative. I think they feed into each other, because you see how much Joe\u2019s team cares about her when she\u2019s here and how devastated they are when she\u2019s gone. Logistically, how different was making this season compared to the first two? Did you film with Zoe [Salda\u00f1a] up to a point and then she was gone? Or, were you filming both timelines at the same time?<\/p>\n LG: With Taylor, he has a unique way of filming, and after I did \u201c1883,\u201d I got to witness that firsthand. It was different in a lot of reasons. I came from a network TV background, where say you\u2019re filming episode 11 now, you film that episode, you finish it, and then you get the next script. You do episode 12, then you do episode 13, until you\u2019re at the very end. Taylor, you\u2019ll get a few episodes up front, but you might film one day on episode one, and then jump to episode two, and film like a week. Then go back to one for two or three days, and then you might start filming episode three because the location we\u2019re in, might as well do it. So, it bounces around anyway.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t really chronological, so we didn\u2019t have time to miss Joe because we were with Joe every day, still shooting other stuff in different parts of the timeline. I think it was unique this time as well. We were filming in the winter, like the Halloween and Thanksgiving months. We couldn\u2019t go home for Thanksgiving, a lot of the actors. We had to stay there because we were filming the next day. Zoe opened up her house, and a few of us on the show have kids with us, like all of our families are there. It\u2019s a family environment on the show as well, so we all went to Zoe\u2019s house and we just had a big Thanksgiving dinner together. We took this big massive picture and it was just a great night.<\/p>\n When you have these family moments in Thanksgiving and Christmas, it makes you all closer as humans, so when you\u2019re back on set again, it just translates. The right hand knows what the left is doing, and that concern that the characters had for Joe, the actors were like, we got to get her back too. It was all interwoven.<\/p>\n S-T: Do you like that nonlinear shooting style better? Or, do you prefer the week-to-week routine? That\u2019s like a movie schedule.<\/p>\n LG: [Taylor] said he writes it like a movie. He writes like eight episodes as a film and just breaks it up and chops it up, but it keeps you on your toes. Even if you are playing the same character year in and year out, we don\u2019t do that, but some actors might want to phone it in. You can\u2019t phone it in because, its like, \u201cOK, where are we at now?\u201d It makes everyone be on their toes. The script supervisor has to be sharp. Wardrobe [is like], \u201cOK, you had blood in episode three, but not on two. We need you to go change.\u201d If one thing is off, the audience is like, \u201cNo, I call bull. The hair\u2019s not right.\u201d Or whatever it is. It just makes you be more present and on top of it. I prefer it that way. It\u2019s trickier, but it\u2019s worth it.<\/p>\n S-T: Let’s talk episode 5, which is called \u201cIdiot Army,\u201d but I think could really be called \u201cScorched Earth\u201d because you guys are getting after it. There are two scenes in particular where Tucker is in the background as Joe digs into these guys in the hotel room and at the college lecture. What\u2019s it like for you to get a front row view of something like that?<\/p>\n LG: It\u2019s great, man. I know you only see one take when they edit it, like that\u2019s all you get. But watching her, she\u2019ll do four or five different takes that are all like, \u201cDamn, I feel bad for the editor. Like, how you gonna choose which one?\u201d It\u2019s fun watching her navigate these scenes with so much texture and so many layers. Just all of these takes are watchable and unique, and whatever you pick is whatever you pick. But yeah, when I first started working with Zoe, I was like, \u201cOh, damn, this is Gamora<\/a>. All right, it\u2019s game time now [laughs]. This is the big leagues.\u201d But yeah, she\u2019s incredible. She\u2019s a force.<\/p>\n S-T: In episode 5, there\u2019s a scene where you pick someone up and threaten to throw them out a window. In a scene where you\u2019re just picking someone up like that, does it require the same amount of planning and procedure as some of these bigger action scenes?<\/p>\n LG: Absolutely. Wade [Allen], our stunt guy, he handles every situation like it\u2019s the biggest situation. Picking up a grown man like a sack of potatoes, I don\u2019t care how strong you are, on take 20, like this is getting old. My shoulders start to lean a little bit, and this show as a whole is very physical for the QRF [quick reaction force]. It\u2019s very physical for Zoe. They\u2019re not fake guns, they\u2019re real weapons and they\u2019re heavy. They have a way of writing in [that] Tucker carries all the heavy stuff, whether it\u2019s a unique gun that weighs X amount of pounds, and you also have your SIG rifle that weighs this, and you have your backpack, and they got hammers in there. Like I\u2019m that guy.<\/p>\n Then you have Joe saying, \u201cHey Tucker, we need you to get on top of the mountain. We need to get eyes on everything.” It\u2019s a physical show, but our stunt team handles all of it, so you never feel like I\u2019m wearing down, or if you need a breather they\u2019ll give you one and everything is handled to make the job easier for you. But at some point, it is what it is. Take after take, you got to be physical.<\/p>\n S-T: You mention being physical, I know you enjoy working out. As actors, your main tool to do your job is your body. What does fitness and physique mean to you in your work and in your everyday life?<\/p>\n LG: For me, working out, you take care of yourself. The roles that I want to play require that I look a certain way and have a certain amount of energy. I like being the action guy. I like these physical roles. I\u2019d much rather do these roles than sitting at a desk and saying a bunch of words with a suit on. And there\u2019s a world where that exists too, not knocking that. I\u2019m sure later in life I\u2019ll be behind a desk. But right now, while this I still got this instrument, I\u2019d love to do as much physical stuff as possible. And working out for me, it\u2019s more mental than it is for physical. Like it\u2019s a stress relief. It\u2019s for just mental therapy, mental health.<\/p>\n If I\u2019m having a bad day about something, like as an actor, I\u2019ll have a big audition, you get out of the room and you got all this stuff going through your head. I go to the gym, and it works itself out. If I got stress about whatever it is, family life, day-to-day stuff, whatever, I go to the gym and it works itself out. It\u2019s more mental than physical. But I know for what I want to do in this business, I have to look a certain way and be a certain way, so it lends to itself to stay in there.<\/p>\n S-T: I\u2019d love to talk to you about how much the filmmaking landscape has changed in Fort Worth over the years. When you made \u201c1883\u201d here back in 2021, the scene wasn\u2019t as big as it is now. Taylor has SGS Studios<\/a> in north Fort Worth, and Texas recently landed<\/a> better film incentives. It\u2019s only been five years, but in your eyes, could you walk me through how much change the Fort Worth filmmaking scene has evolved now through \u201cLioness\u201d season 3?<\/p>\n LG: I\u2019ve seen it. Like you said, five years ago we were on ranch to ranch, and it was unique back then because it was COVID, and we all had to stay together. There was one time when someone got some of the cast together, it was right when we broke cowboy camp. It was like our celebration, like, \u201cMan, we got to do something.\u201d One of the guys that Taylor knew got a van for us to go into Fort Worth, and it was the first time going into Fort Worth. We\u2019ve been in Weatherford at this ranch for the whole time. Taylor found out about it, rung dude a new hole, and we all jumped in the van, we had to get back. Like, \u201cWhere are my actors at? Get them back here.\u201d Because it\u2019s COVID and we\u2019re doing the swab thing every day. I get it.<\/p>\n We were going as a team, as a unit, from ranch to ranch through Amarillo, all parts of Texas like Guthrie, Dixon. Now you have this huge studio that wasn\u2019t there before. Now it\u2019s a trip driving into work and \u201cLioness\u201d is filming here, \u201cDutton Ranch\u201d is filming here, \u201cThe Madison\u201d is filming here. Like, wow, man. You could just see the landscape out here just getting bigger and bigger, and it\u2019s not gonna stop. It\u2019s only gonna get bigger. Taylor\u2019s not gonna stop writing.<\/p>\n But, of all cities, Fort Worth is a great city to have that. They embrace you everywhere we go, like they love Taylor\u2019s shows. They see the landmarks in the show, and they take pride in that. Like, \u201cI know you guys were at Chumley, I know you guys are at whatever hotel, or Billy Bob\u2019s.\u201d They take care of you out there and they love Taylor, he\u2019s a hometown kid. They recognize us, and it\u2019s just a great environment to be around.<\/p>\n \u201cLioness\u201d airs Sundays on Paramount+.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n![\"L-R:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lioness_304_LS_0109_0536_RT_f.jpg\" "\\"Lioness_304_LS_0109_0536_RT_f.jpg\\"")
L-R: Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz and LaMonica Garrett as Tucker in \u201cLioness,\u201d episode 4, season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Lauren Smith Paramount+ <\/p>\n![\"L-R:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Lioness_304_LS_1203_0812_RT_f.jpg\" "\\"Lioness_304_LS_1203_0812_RT_f.jpg\\"")
L-R: Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz, Austin H\u00e9bert as Randy, Jill Wagner as Bobby, James Jordan as Two Cups, Jonah Wharton as Tex, LaMonica Garrett as Tucker, Thad Luckinbill as Kyle in \u201cLioness\u201d episode 4, season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Lauren Smith Paramount+ <\/p>\n
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