{"id":795181,"date":"2026-07-31T10:05:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T10:05:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/795181\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T10:05:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T10:05:14","slug":"zoe-saldana-says-taylor-sheridan-knows-how-to-write-women-on-lioness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/795181\/","title":{"rendered":"Zoe Salda\u00f1a Says Taylor Sheridan Knows “How To Write Women” On ‘Lioness’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAs Lioness<\/a> reunites with her pride for a third season, Zoe Salda\u00f1a<\/a> is grateful to get to reprise a well-written character.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Oscar-winning actress, who stars as CIA agent Joe McNamara, praised series creator Taylor Sheridan<\/a> for knowing \u201chow to write women\u201d and characters that \u201cdefy gender and race\u201d on the Paramount+<\/a> series, which returns Aug. 2 to the streamer.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI do believe that Joe could\u2019ve been a man. We\u2019ve seen various stories of men like Joe,\u201d she told People<\/a>. \u201cAnd Kaitlyn [played by Nicole Kidman] could\u2019ve been a man, the same way Westfield [played by Michael Kelly] could\u2019ve been a woman, Kyle [played by Thad Luckinbill] could\u2019ve been a woman. These are incredible complex individuals [and] any actor who challenges themselves can rise to that occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSalda\u00f1a added that Sheridan\u2019s skill for crafting characters of any experience \u201cis what makes a really good writer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen you write something so incredible that it kind of defies gender and race, and it\u2019s just about the merit of that human being, I feel like you give yourself the opportunity of a wider range of actors that can come in and sort of vie for that part,\u201d she continued. \u201cI have a great deal of respect for men that really know how to write women and I think that Taylor gives himself enough credit.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tZoe Salda\u00f1a as Joe and Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn in \u2018Lioness\u2019 (Ryan Green\/Paramount+)<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m happy to say that, after playing one of his female characters for three seasons, I\u2019m incredibly honored that he wrote Joe as a woman,\u201d added Salda\u00f1<\/p>\n

\n\tJill Wagner, who plays Bobby, noted that Sheridan \u201cputs a little bit of himself in each one of these characters. Like, I see Taylor in almost every single character. That\u2019s something he does naturally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSalda\u00f1a joked, \u201cOh great, so he writes himself? Here I am thinking he writes great women!\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStarring and executive produced by Salda\u00f1a and Kidman, Season 3 of Lioness sees hidden networks, foreign operatives and personal betrayals collide. Joe (Salda\u00f1a) walks the line between duty and home as unseen forces circle her world. Patterns appear where they shouldn\u2019t, names vanish, and paths rearrange. Guided by Kaitlyn (Kidman) and Westfield (Kelly), Joe confronts enemies operating in the shadows, leaving her to reckon with a war that now reaches into every part of her life.<\/p>\n