Zoe Saldaña Says One Taylor Sheridan Role Is Enough

Zoe Saldaña says she has no interest in taking on another Taylor Sheridan project, even as her CIA drama “Lioness” continues to expand the writer-producer’s television footprint.

The Oscar-winning actress, who stars as Joe McNamara in the Paramount+ series, told People that the role already demands everything she has to give.

“I think that Joe McNamara and ‘Lioness’ is all that I can handle at this time,” she said.

Saldaña described the workload behind the role as relentless. “I’m number one on the call sheet. I am first one in, last one out,” she explained. “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 said.

Even so, Saldaña believes three seasons on the show have built real trust between her and Sheridan. “The good takeaway that I’m grateful for is that he knows that I’m reliable, just like Joe is,” she said, adding that Sheridan knows she’s “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 said. “So, no, I think I’m good here at ‘Lioness.'”

Before season three premiered on Aug. 2, Saldaña admitted she wasn’t sure she could pull off the demands of the role. “It was very demanding, I’m not gonna lie,” she told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “I didn’t even know if I was gonna be able to pull it off.”

Season three wrapped Sept. 20, with Joe’s CIA career turning intensely personal as the season put her marriage and family under strain while she herself became a target. Paramount+ has not yet renewed the series for a fourth season.

Saldaña also credited Sheridan for writing Joe without defining her by gender. “We’ve seen various stories of men like Joe,” 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.”

“I have a great deal of respect for men that really know how to write women,” she added. “I’m happy to say that, after playing one of his female characters for three seasons, I’m incredibly honored that he wrote Joe as a woman.”