Zoe Saldaña says Special Ops: Lioness was 'most exciting thing I had read in a long time'

When Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan first called Zoe Saldaña about his new show Special Ops: Lioness, she wasn't ready to take on the role of Joe, a CIA operative.

"In 2020 when he called, I just couldn't grasp the thought of committing to a multi-seasonal show when the world was about to end," Saldaña told EW prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. But a year later, she was the one who picked up the phone to call Sheridan.

"It was the most exciting thing I had read in a long time," Saldaña says of the pilot script. "It was absolutely thrilling, you couldn't put it down."

The series follows Joe as she leads the CIA's Lioness program, which recruits female soldiers to go undercover in order to befriend the women close to terrorism targets. "Women can go under the radar," she continues. "They can come in as someone's date, someone's friend, and they can befriend another female. They can become someone's lover and for some reason, they don't present a threat. And I do believe that the female spy has been around since the beginning of time."

Aside from the story, Saldaña admits there was another aspect of Joe that caught her eye. "The reason why Joe was such an appetizing character for me is because for the first time, I didn't have to pull a muscle, like I always do," she says with a laugh. And yet, she still found herself training for the role... just not physically.

"It was more of a psychological journey for Joe and I wanted to experience that. Taylor has incredible writing and his monologues are quite powerful. Up until this project I didn't believe that I can do that," she says. "I'm dyslexic, and my first language is not English, so it takes me a little longer to assimilate English grammar and English cadences. I have to approach it from very different angles."

But now, having shot all of season 1, she can't wait to do it again. "I can't wait for season 2 because I got the itch! It's quite fun."

The first two episodes of Special Ops: Lioness premiere Sunday, July 23, on Paramount+.

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• Special Ops: Lioness review: Taylor Sheridan sends stock female characters to war
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