That all changed when the 46-year-old New York native arrived in Cowtown for season 2 filming<\/a> back in 2024. He plays Neal on the Paramount+ show, the husband to Joe (Zoe Salda\u00f1a) and a pediatric surgeon in his own right.<\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long for Annable to fall hard for the city, especially after spending several months in Fort Worth again for season 3.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cObsessed with Fort Worth, I really am,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac In case you missed it: <\/p>\n Ahead of \u201cLioness\u201d season 3, episode 7, Annable spoke to the Star-Telegram about the show and his experience in Fort Worth.<\/p>\n The conversation contains spoilers for the seventh episode, which aired on Sunday, Sept. 13. Make sure to watch that before diving in.<\/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 Dave Annable: Oh, great question. Well, first of all, it\u2019s Taylor\u2019s [Sheridan] writing. Every time I would get a script in my inbox, I was so excited to open it and read it, and in a sense, learn about the world, learn about this world specifically. Going to work with these actors, it\u2019s a real \u201cpinch me\u201d-type situation. And they\u2019re also wonderful people, which is not always the case. I\u2019ve been doing this a long time, and to be able to go to work and have incredible actors I\u2019m standing across from and friends, that\u2019s such a gift. I hope this goes 90 more years [laughs].<\/p>\n S-T: One of the big themes this season is morality and how far you\u2019re willing to go to save the person you love. For Neal, I see that in his refusal to take gun safety lessons and refusal to take a human life because of his oath to medicine. I find that admirable, despite the stakes being never being higher this season. What do you think that says about Neal\u2019s character that he has this line? And, do you think he would cross it to get Joe back?<\/p>\n DA: That\u2019s a great question, and was something I sort of questioned as the scripts were coming in. Why would Neal not take the gun, right? Why would Neal not take the gun class? It was an interesting exercise as an actor because I remembered in my training that you can\u2019t judge your character, because I was certainly judging him. I was like, \u201cPick up the gun, dude. You got kids. Like, what are you doing?\u201d I got two daughters. I mean, I\u2019d fire that off.<\/p>\n But I really respect Neal\u2019s oath and his line and his beliefs, right? I believe that he doesn\u2019t think that maybe deep down that his family or himself is in immediate danger, and I do think if there was immediate danger, Neal would pick up that gun quicker than anybody else in the house, right? Because he\u2019s a dad, he\u2019s a father. But at that point in that conversation, I think training with a gun is not something he\u2019s necessarily interested in, right? I think that the oath plays a very big part in that. I have to respect it. I don\u2019t know it, I don\u2019t get it, but I gotta respect it.<\/p>\n S-T: I\u2019ve been watching this show for three seasons and I didn\u2019t realize something about the title sequence until recently. Whenever it gets to your card and says, \u201cDave Annable,\u201d your face is superimposed over a fire, which I think is a good symbol for Neal. He has all this stuff going on underneath. Am I crazy for making that connection, and do you see that at all?<\/p>\n DA: Not once, but I love it. I think maybe that is sort of a window into Neal\u2019s journey in this show. Again, I think Neal and Joe have a wonderful love story, and I think it started with support and love but has evolved. Anytime danger is knocking on your front door, I think there\u2019s a real wake-up call for the parties involved. I do think Neal has a lot of fire in him. I think to be a surgeon you got to have some version of a God complex. I think Neal knows his lane. Now that you know what\u2019s happening to Joe is happening, and when he gets her back, I think there\u2019s a very big conversation that needs to happen with some real stakes.<\/p>\n S-T: There\u2019s a line towards the end this episode, where Joe tells Two Cups that when you have children you can either live for your life or live for theirs. I think for a lot of parents that sentiment runs true. I want to flip the question to you. You\u2019re a working actor and a dad, how do you balance doing things for you and doing things for them?<\/p>\n DA: Oh man, it\u2019s a never-ending battle. You want to be there with your kids for absolutely everything that they\u2019re going through. At the same time, we gotta eat, we gotta work, and my job happens to bring me other places for short periods of stay. But I\u2019ve had that conversation with my daughters, and I think they understand as much as possible. It\u2019s like you\u2019re either getting all of dad, [laughs] where I\u2019m here all the time and they\u2019re pretty sick of me, or I\u2019m gone for a couple weeks and I get to come home and visit. I think my wife [Odette]<\/a> and I have a really good sort of one-two. We\u2019ve been very fortunate in our careers when she\u2019s been working, I\u2019ve more or less been home and vice versa. But I think my kids got a good grasp on it. You know, [I\u2019m] not in the CIA. Our lives are really not at stake [laughs], so I think that really helps the cause a lot.<\/p>\n I think my wife and I have learned a lot from Neal and Joe, and we really have over the years learned about support. We happen to also be in a job where saying no hurts you. If you say no over and over again, especially with jobs being sort of scarce. It\u2019s hard. I\u2019m here, drove to school this morning. I was in the carpool, full Neal right now, picking them up. But if we\u2019re able to go back to work [on season 4], then I\u2019ll be gone for a bit. I think they got, like I said, a pretty good grasp on that.<\/p>\n S-T: I want to ask you about Fort Worth. You\u2019ve made the last two seasons of \u201cLioness\u201d here and have spent some time in the city. Generally, what are your thoughts on living and working in Fort Worth?<\/p>\n DA: Obsessed. Obsessed with Fort Worth, I really am. I had zero knowledge of it before going up there for season two, and again, I live in Austin, so it\u2019s a wonderful gift that I can drive three hours up there, work and either spend the night or come home or whatever I got to do. That\u2019s a real gift. But the city of Fort Worth is … I\u2019m obsessed with. The people are amazing. The Stockyards and Clearfork. I just really enjoy working there. I know the cast does as well. We have a lot of fun. We have a lot of fun there.<\/p>\n S-T: Do you have any favorite spots you like to check out while in town?<\/p>\n DA: You know, certainly hit up the bars with the team. I\u2019m like, let the doctor in, let me come hang out with you guys [laughs]. Was it the White Elephant [Saloon] or? Yeah, we put some clocks and miles there. Actually, the food is so good, and we obviously go to Cattlemen\u2019s [Steakhouse], which is great. The hotels there. I was staying in the Clearfork area, which was great being able to walk along the [Trinity] river every day is really peaceful. And like I said, in my real life, it\u2019s three hours away. My kids have come up and spent the weekend with me, and taken a few daddy daughter trips up there with the kids. Yeah, I just I love it.<\/p>\n S-T: When I spoke to Jill Wagner<\/a> last week, she mentioned how the dance floor at the White Elephant would open up when the \u201cLioness\u201d crew walked in.<\/p>\n DA: When I came though, they put a lot of people on the dance floor, so I couldn\u2019t make my way on there just because they saw my hips and thought I pulled something [laughs]. But yeah, no, it\u2019s a rowdy cast for sure.<\/p>\n \u201cLioness\u201d airs Sundays on Paramount+.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n Dave Annable stars in \u201cLioness.\u201d Screenshot Paramount+ <\/p>\n
![\"L-R:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Lioness_304_LS_1121_0176_RT_f.jpg\" "\\"Lioness_304_LS_1121_0176_RT_f.jpg\\"")
L-R: Zoe Salda\u00f1a as Joe and Dave Annable as Neal in \u201cLioness,\u201d episode 4, season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Lauren Smith Paramount+ <\/p>\n
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