The 47-year-old North Carolina native has filmed the last two seasons of \u201cLioness\u201d<\/a> in Cowtown. In the Taylor Sheridan-created show, she plays Bobby, the team leader for the quick reaction force team.<\/p>\n Everything has been great in Fort Worth, including the work and the people, Wagner said. Well, except for one thing.<\/p>\n \u201cI won\u2019t say the heat was, because we were there in the summertime running around with our kit on, and it was very hot,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I grew up in North Carolina in those summers, so I got it.\u201d<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac In case you missed it: <\/p>\n Ahead of \u201cLioness\u201d season 3, episode 6, which aired on Sunday, Sept. 6, Wagner spoke to the Star-Telegram about the show.<\/p>\n She also shared more about her time in Fort Worth and where the cast likes to hang out while off the clock. There are some light spoilers for the show, so it\u2019s best to be caught up through the sixth 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?<\/p>\n Jill Wagner: Oh my gosh. Like, do we have all day? What excites me is that there is no end to the content that we can use, because the world right now, there\u2019s so much happening. There\u2019s so much to talk about, so that excites me in a way that I think there\u2019s great content. There\u2019s great things to write about, or important things to write about, I should say. Then why I love it? I want to go to work with these people every day. Our cast, I think people can probably tell, we go to dinners together. We go out to the White Elephant [Saloon<\/a> in Fort Worth] together. We are friends off-screen. I think anytime you have that really close bond with your cast, it\u2019s magic. Not only that, but we have an amazing crew as well.<\/p>\n I hate to be clich\u00e9, but it is that big family you walk into, and we\u2019re just out there having fun. We all understand we\u2019re dealing with a serious topic, but we try to go into work every day and put 110% in and we love it. Then you get to be on a TS [Taylor Sheridan] show. I mean, I\u2019m honored to call the man a friend and also my boss. I mean, he\u2019s incredible.<\/p>\n S-T: You mentioned how this show rips storylines from the headlines. For your character, do you find it helpful to research the real-life elements that Taylor is referencing? Or, do you stick to what\u2019s in the script?<\/p>\n JW: Well, I won\u2019t pretend to know all the acronyms that Taylor puts in the show, but my husband is in the military and is very dialed in to current events. I mean, I wake up in the morning with the news on, which I always go to the other end of the house, because all I want to do is like, play my Cherokee flute music and just wake up in a nice calm way [laughs]. But my husband is very dialed in to what\u2019s happening, and so I get that from him. I keep my finger on the pulse of the world. I don\u2019t consume it just like it\u2019s air, but I know a little bit about what\u2019s going on. But like I said, Taylor goes pretty detailed, so sometimes I\u2019m calling my husband, and I\u2019m like, \u201cHey, I don\u2019t know what this means.\u201d [Laughs] Luckily, I have that phone a friend.<\/p>\n S-T: One of the big themes this season is morality and how far you\u2019re willing to go for the person you love. We\u2019ve seen the team brush up against this, specifically earlier in the season when Bobby and Kyle butt heads. Do you think Bobby would cross that line to get Joe back?<\/p>\n JW: Here\u2019s what I think. I think if it came down to Joe\u2019s life or not, I think Bobby would cross the line because she would give her life up for Joe. That\u2019s what we\u2019re asking Bobby to do. Because if Bobby crosses certain lines, she goes to prison, and Kyle doesn\u2019t. I think that\u2019s what we kind of have to realize. Like, the line that he crossed was that directly tied to her life or not? Or, could we have just left that guy? I think it just depends on what we\u2019re dealing with. But yeah, I mean, absolutely, Bobby would stand in front of a bullet for Joe, and she would go to jail for that as well.<\/p>\n S-T: You mentioned earlier how tight the cast is with each other. Does that personal relationship translate to the screen and in your performance?<\/p>\n JW: I think any time that you have a real relationship, whether it be friendly or not, in real life, that will translate on screen and you can use that. Our cast is super tight. We are really different, all of us, but somehow it all works, and it\u2019s worked from day one. I think there are certain scenes, if we happen to have a season 4, hopefully we do. I\u2019m really good friends with Ian Bohen<\/a>, so me personally, I would like to see some scenes with Grady and Bobby because I know we could pull anything off because we\u2019re so close. It doesn\u2019t matter what the scene is, like let\u2019s get into it. Yeah, that\u2019s always an asset. And the fact that we\u2019re on our third season, we all know and love each other, it\u2019s just like, throw us anywhere and we\u2019ll make it happen.<\/p>\n S-T: I think of \u201cLioness\u201d as a loud show because of all the gunfire, explosions and mayhem. Is there a quiet moment this season that stands out to you?<\/p>\n JW: We see a lot of Joe\u2019s private moments, her time to think about things and decompress. We see that on screen. We don\u2019t see that with a lot of the other characters. I have to imagine that my character Bobby, she\u2019s a human being, I have to imagine that she goes off, I always say probably in the bathroom, and breaks down because you can\u2019t take all of that on. What I want to remind people is, this is not sci-fi. We\u2019re not emulating crazy alien people, well unless you\u2019re Zoe [Salda\u00f1a, in roles like \u201cGuardian of the Galaxy,\u201d] you\u2019ve done that before [laughs].<\/p>\n But in this show, we\u2019re emulating real people, and I think you have to remember that those moments are there for all human beings. There\u2019s a moment at the end I think is interesting between Joe and Bobby and Cruz, which I won\u2019t spoil it, but there\u2019s a moment that is set aside for something. I feel like in Bobby and what Bobby does, she always brings levity to a dark situation. That\u2019s probably out of necessity because a lot of these guys and gals probably do that for self-preservation because things get so dark.<\/p>\n S-T: Before we run out of time, I want to ask you about Fort Worth. You\u2019ve made the last two seasons of the show here. Generally, what’s your experience been working and living in Cowtown?<\/p>\n JW: Oh my God, I love Fort Worth. In fact, my husband would move there if I would. We just met a lot of really nice people. We lived in a little subdivision out in the Aledo area, and it was great. The people were great. The work was great. I won\u2019t say the heat was, because we were there in the summertime running around with our kit on, and it was very hot. But I grew up in North Carolina in those summers, so I got it. There\u2019s a lot of people from California that were like, \u201cWhat is this?\u201d I was like, \u201cYep, we\u2019re just going to have to roll right through it.\u201d Embrace the suck, is what my husband says.<\/p>\n S-T: You mentioned the White Elephant earlier. Any other Fort Worth spots that you like to hit while in town?<\/p>\n JW: Oh gosh, what was the name of this restaurant? Now you\u2019re going to ask me. I mean, the White Elephant, that was season 2, I guess it was. We were there every single weekend. And by the way, if you saw us come in, you had to move off the dance floor because we were like wrecking balls on the dance floor. I don\u2019t think we did it as much in season 3, because once people started seeing the show, it was a little hard to go out and be as crazy. But yeah, the White Elephant was our place.<\/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\/09\/Lioness_304_LS_1203_0695_RT.jpg\" "\\"Lioness_304_LS_1203_0695_RT.jpg\\"")
L-R: Jonah Wharton as Tex, Jill Wagner as Bobby, Thad Luckinbill as Kyle in \u201cLioness,\u201d episode 4, season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Lauren “Lo” Smith Paramount+ <\/p>\n![\"Jill](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Lioness_305_LS_0112_0060_RT.JPG\" "\\"Lioness_305_LS_0112_0060_RT.JPG\\"")
Jill Wagner as Bobby in \u201cLioness,\u201d episode 5, season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Lauren “Lo” Smith Paramount+ <\/p>\n
![\"Profile](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1788724929_555_BraydenHeadshot.jpg\")