Morgan Freeman thinks pretty highly of Taylor Sheridan’s writing for “Lioness,” in which he plays U.S. Secretary of State Edwin Mullins. He praised the show’s creator highly during an August 2026 interview with The New York Times. “His writing has to do more with the human experience, what people are actually going through, emotionally, in a lot of cases,” Freeman said. “You saw that a lot in ‘Yellowstone,’ and you actually see it a lot in any of his writings.”
Freeman used “Lioness” protagonist Joe McNamara (Zoe Saldaña) as an example of Sheridan understanding his characters in a way that many TV writers don’t. He pointed out that she’s far from your typical lead in a show about CIA special ops. “She has kids and a husband. She makes decisions and she has to consider these. It takes courage to write about stuff like that, and Taylor seems to have an awful lot of it,” Freeman said.
This isn’t the first time that Freeman has spoken of his admiration for Sheridan and his many TV shows. The Oscar-winning actor, who’s mostly known for his work on the big screen, was just as complimentary about Sheridan when discussing his motivation for venturing back into the television space during an interview with TV Insider in December 2024. He said: “I’m so enamored of him and his work. He’s so prolific, and it’s always good.”
Zoe Saldaña is also a fan of Taylor Sheridan’s writing
Like Morgan Freeman, Zoe Saldaña appreciates how well Taylor Sheridan handled her “Lioness” character Joe McNamara, the CIA senior case officer who is in charge of the Lioness program. She believes that Joe works so well because her gender comes second to the story, and that this is actually the case with several “Lioness” characters. “I do believe that Joe [McNamara] could’ve been a man,” Saldaña said at the Season 3 premiere in New York (via People). “Kaitlyn [Meade] could’ve been a man, the same way [Byron] Westfield could’ve been a woman, Kyle [McManus] could’ve been a woman.”
Does this mean that we’re going to see the pair collaborate on more shows in the future? Not necessarily. Saldaña is in no hurry to join another Taylor Sheridan series, primarily because “Lioness” takes up so much of her time and energy. “I think that Joe McNamara and ‘Lioness’ is all that I can handle at this time,” she told People. “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.” Perhaps once “Lioness” is finished Saldaña will work with Sheridan again, but for the time being don’t expect to see her popping up in a “Yellowstone” spin-off show.
