Peak TV's current slogan might as well be "join the Taylor Sheridan universe." The prolific producer has convinced yet another Hollywood legend to make the jump from the silver to the small screen. Deadline reports that Morgan Freeman has joined the cast of Lioness, Sheridan's upcoming original series for Paramount+.
News of Freeman's casting comes just weeks after it was announced that Nicole Kidman had boarded the star-studded project, which counts Avatar: The Way of Water's Zoe Saldaña among the cast. Both Saldaña and Kidman executive-produce the series in addition to their starring roles.
Welcome to the #ParamountPlus family, @morgan_freeman! ?
Learn more about Lioness ? https://t.co/iClwUHSNZ1
— Paramount+ (@paramountplus) January 13, 2023
Lioness was co-created by Yellowstone mastermind Sheridan and Hallmark star Jill Wagner. Currently in post-production, the series is an action thriller based on a real-life CIA program. It follows one Cruz Manuelos (played by Locke & Key's Laysla De Oliveira), a "rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine recruited to join the CIA's Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within."
Freeman is set to play the fictional U.S. Secretary of State Edwin Mullins. It's a plum role for the seasoned actor, who's played the president of the United States in three different films, and plenty of authority figures otherwise. The role marks Freeman's return to TV following his 2021 guest role on The Kominsky Method, for which the actor earned an Emmy nomination.
Lioness is billed as a special-ops drama with a focus on the thorny gender politics of a high-stakes government agency. Nicole Kidman will play seasoned CIA operative Kaitlyn Meade, who "must juggle the trappings of being a woman in the high-ranking intelligence community." For her part, Zoe Saldaña will play Lioness program station chief Joe, charged with training and leading a group of female undercover agents.
A handful of Sheridan alums are also set to appear in the series. From Yellowstone, there's Dave Annable (aka Lee Dutton — RIP), James Jordan and Austin Hébert. Stephanie Nur and LaMonica Garrett, who both starred in 1883, have also boarded the show.
The series does not yet have an official release date, but we can expect the drama to premiere sometime in 2023.
