Zoe Saldaña believes Taylor Sheridan wrote the characters in his spy thriller Lioness to be gender neutral — and she loves it.
At the Wednesday premiere of the show’s third season in New York City, Saldaña, who co-stars alongside Nicole Kidman as CIA operative Joe McNamara, lauded the Fort Worth-raised showrunner’s writing style.
“I do believe that Joe could’ve been a man,” Saldaña said at the event, People reported. She added that Kidman’s character, Kaitlyn Meade, could have been a man and that two male characters — Byron Westfield and Kyle McManus — could have been women.
For Saldaña, the show’s characters shine because they don’t necessarily fit into stereotypical gender norms. Their universal appeal is what makes their stories all the more compelling, she said.
“When you write something so incredible that it kind of defies gender and race, and it’s 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,” Saldaña continued. “I have a great deal of respect for men that really know how to write women.”
Related: ‘Lioness’ Season 3: Everything you need to know ahead of the debut
Saldaña is reprising her role as McNamara for Season 3 of the hit series, navigating a “world where hidden networks, foreign operatives and personal betrayals collide.”
She almost didn’t take the part, though. Saldaña revealed on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Thursday that she turned Sheridan down “for a year” after he offered her the role.
“It’s an honor, but it’s also a challenge,” she said. “I didn’t believe in me, but I kept saying this: If Taylor Sheridan believes in you — someone like Taylor believes in you — then you have no choice but to believe in yourself.”
Saldaña’s love of Sheridan’s writing is part of what convinced her to eventually say yes.
“He writes amazing worlds,” Saldaña said on the show. “There’s got to be a reason as to why actors like Morgan Freeman, Nicole Kidman, Helen Mirren, Michelle Pfeiffer, Harrison Ford, they all just jump on board every time someone like Taylor Sheridan makes a call. It’s because he writes really rich characters.”
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Saldaña isn’t the only star to vouch for the women in Sheridan’s world. Landman star Ali Larter previously defended the producer against criticism that his female characters are one-dimensional.
“It’s just a false narrative,” Larter told The Hollywood Reporter in June. “You just don’t see a lot of women in film and television that embrace their sexuality. It just stops at a certain age. I’m always amazed at how shocked people are by it.”
Lioness has filmed in North Texas since its second season. Scenes for Season 3 were shot in Dallas, Fort Worth and Denton, according to casting calls for extras released during production.
Season 3 will premiere on Paramount+ on Sunday, Aug. 2.
Related: How Taylor Sheridan became the TV king of North Texas
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