Zoe Saldaña Makes Her Feelings Clear About Taylor Sheridan’s Work on Lioness

Taylor Sheridan‘s writing often sparks debate, and now one of his biggest stars from his show, Lioness, has spoken about him. At the New York premiere of the show’s third season, Zoe Saldaña offered an enthusiastic defense of Sheridan’s approach, arguing that his characters succeed because they rise above labels and focus on the person behind the role.

Taylor Sheridan’s Lioness writing gets high praise from Zoe Saldaña

Speaking at the Season 3 premiere, Zoe Saldaña praised Sheridan for creating characters she believes could be portrayed by actors of any gender. Referring to her CIA operative Joe McNamara, she said to People, “Joe could’ve been a man.”

She expanded on the idea by saying Kaitlyn Meade could have been male, while characters like Westfield or Kyle McManus could just as easily have been women. “These are incredibly complex individuals,” Saldaña said, adding that “any actor who challenges themselves can rise to that occasion.

Saldaña believes that’s the hallmark of truly great storytelling. In her view, when a character is crafted around personality, purpose, and emotional depth, rather than gender or race, the role naturally becomes open to a much broader pool of actors. As she put it, exceptional writing creates characters that stand on “the merit of that human being,” allowing the best performer to bring them to life.

Saldaña also praised Taylor Sheridan for his ability to write compelling female characters, saying she has enormous “respect for men that really know how to write women.” She also feels Sheridan doesn’t receive enough credit for it. Reflecting on her time playing Joe across three seasons, Saldaña said it was a “honor” that Sheridan envisioned the character as a woman.

Her costar Jill Wagner says the same thing, describing Sheridan as “a force” who naturally leaves traces of himself in nearly every character he creates. Saldaña immediately turned the moment into a laugh, joking, “Oh great, so he writes himself? Here I am thinking he writes great women!”

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