As both the star and an executive producer of the Paramount+ spy thriller, Saldaña says the work required to bring Joe to life begins long before cameras start rolling.
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“I’m number one on the call sheet. I am first one in, last one out,” she explains. “I am prepping months before anybody ever is able to prep. So it’s already a lot of work for me.”
“I can’t imagine me taking on more of a Taylor Sheridan world,” she adds.
Saldaña says her experience working with Sheridan has left the prolific creator with a pretty good idea of exactly what she brings to the table. “The good takeaway that I’m grateful for is that he knows that I’m reliable, just like Joe is,” she says, adding that Sheridan knows she is “honest,” “tough as nails” and “vocal and opinionated.”
“I have my views, and I come with all heart, all brains, all muscle at all times,” she says. “So, no, I think I’m good here at Lioness.”
Her costar Michael Kelly, however, has already ventured further into Sheridan’s television universe. Kelly, who plays CIA Deputy Director Byron Westfield on Lioness, was recently announced as joining the cast of Landman season 3.
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But if Lioness returns for a fourth season, Saldaña jokingly warns that Kelly’s other job can’t interfere with his duties as Byron. “Michael can’t be going there and doing more work,” she says. “If we do come back for season 4, we have him first.”
“I don’t see anybody else playing Byron,” she adds. “He’s excellent as [Byron] Westfield, and he’s such a talented actor, and I really enjoy sharing screen time with him. I learn so much from Michael.”
Asked whether she and Sheridan have discussed where Joe could go next after the events of season 3, Saldaña says she doesn’t know what another chapter might look like.
