Zoe Saldaña recalls Taylor Sheridan’s challenge for ‘Lioness’ role

Zoe Saldaña recently claimed she was not willing to star in Taylor Sheridan’s series Lioness.

During the Thursday, July 30 episode of The Tonight with Jimmy Fallon, the 48-year-old American actress revealed that she took a whole year to give her seal of approval to play Joe McNamara in the Paramount+ series.

Saldaña told Fallon that Sheridan created McNamara’s role, keeping her in mind but “for a year, I said no” to the role.

She said, “It’s an honor, but it’s also a challenge. 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.”

The Emilia Pérez star went on to sing praises of him, quipping, “He writes amazing worlds. There’s gotta 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.”

When Saldaña was asked if the Landman creator demanded anything of her to play McNamara, she shared that he asked her to “bulk up a little bit.”

“I was in Italy when I got that call, and I was about to dive into the biggest pasta bowl. And I was just like, okay, hand me the fish, I’ll eat that [instead],” she recalled.

It is pertinent to mention that Lioness season 3 is scheduled to premiere on Paramount+ on August 2, 2026. Watch the trailer here.