Zoe Saldana may be in four of the biggest movies of all time, but that doesn’t mean she’s immune to a sudden loss of confidence. That’s why she initially said no to Taylor Sheridan’s offer for the center. Special Ops: Leona around her. However, just a year later, following the advice of her husband, Saldana followed Sheridan, only to discover that he was still waiting for her. So she took a chance and became the latest in a long line of movie stars to lead a Sheridan-esque TV series.
Saldana plays Joe, a CIA special activities agent who sends other undercover agents to gain the trust of terrorists’ wives, girlfriends and daughters. Lioness it even has shades of Hitmanthe film that reinvented Sheridan as a writer to be reckoned with and paved the way for his mega-popular yellow stone TV franchise. Saldaña’s character also operates in something of a gray area, which is similar to Josh Brolin’s own CIA character in Hitman. So Saldaña is optimistic that Sheridan Lioness will scratch the same itch as Sheridan and Denis Villeneuve’s 2015 thriller.
“I know that [Sheridan] He has a lot of admiration for the real work that is done when we all sleep, that’s why he takes care of highlighting this world,” said Saldaña. the hollywood reporter in an interview prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Saldaña also opened up about the conclusion of guardians of the galaxy vol. 3, which saw Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) and Gamora go their separate ways. Saldana has played an alternate version of the character since the original Gamora was killed by Brolin’s Thanos in Avengers: infinity war (2018). And while he initially had a different outcome in mind, he appreciates that writer-director James Gunn didn’t force a new romance between this alternate version of Gamora and Peter.
“It was a bittersweet decision,” he said. “I wanted to know that in the final chapter, Gamora stays and finds a way to become a Guardian again, but this seemed like the right way to end things for her.”
Below, during his conversation with THRSaldaña also talks about how he found his way into a character as controlled as Joe.
Then where Lioness fall into your timeline of conquests? Did you go from Gamora directly to this?
I went from isolating at home during the pandemic to Gamora, to Amy in right from the start and then to Lioness. Taylor Sheridan reached out to me in 2020, when we were in the middle of the pandemic. He sent me the pilot and I couldn’t put it down. It had been a long time since he had read something so intense and so good. So I was instantly hooked. And he told me, “If you respond well to this and want to stick with it, I want to write this to you. I want to write this with you in mind to play Joe.”
And that came at a point in my life where I just wasn’t ready to hear it. I really didn’t have that much faith in myself. I also felt a bit stuck, and a lot of us can relate to that. So I said, “No thanks.” But a year later, I finished a project for Netflix, I was in Italy, and my husband told me, “Just call and see where he is with the project.” So I did, and Taylor hadn’t released it yet. They were still waiting for me, and so I decided to take that leap. I was like, “Well, what if I have it in me to be a part of a Taylor Sheridan show and do a good job?”
Zoe Saldana as Joe in Special Ops: Leona.
Greg Lewis/Paramount+
Joe is a CIA special activities agent who runs the Lioness program on the ground. She manages female agents who go undercover to get close to the wives, girlfriends and daughters of terrorists. Since he is quite a guarded and closed character, what was your path to her?
I think I needed to have his intentions very clear in my mind. To me, she’s a straight shooter. She is clean. There’s nothing dirty about what Joe does. If Joe logs out, it’s because she’s going to do the right thing and save people. She is incredibly responsible. So that had to be made very clear because you can play poker face just to look mysterious and unreadable, or you can know why you’re booked.
You’re in control of your emotions and you’re five steps ahead, and as I was digging into the world of espionage, that’s what came up. These people go through arduous training to anticipate and be five steps ahead at all times. Because at any given moment, they have to make life-threatening decisions that will save many lives or sacrifice one, and they have to be able to carry them out with great responsibility.
Josh Brolin, who are you vaguely familiar with, he played a relatively similar CIA agent in Hitman. Do you get the feeling that Taylor is trying to pick up where she left off in those movies, at least to a degree? I’m not suggesting they’re in the same universe, but they might Lioness to be a spiritual successor of Hitman?
I hope so. Love Hitman. I thought Hitman It was a very interesting movie where normal people are trying to do the right thing in a very bad way, and in a way, it felt very similar. My belief, based on what little I know of Taylor, is that he does, and he surrounds himself with people who have served in the military or been a part of programs like the Lioness program, as well as retired Navy SEALS and CIA members. And I know he has great admiration for the actual work he does when we’re all asleep, so he takes it upon himself to highlight this world.
He finds it important that we don’t stay in the black and white of things. All this lives in gray, and is very complex. These policies are very complex, and that’s what really got me hooked. I just wanted to know what it was like to be in this world and to be in these rooms where life-threatening decisions are made on a daily basis. And I wanted to understand if these people had a pulse or not. (laughs.)
From James Cameron and JJ Abrams to James Gunn and now Taylor Sheridan, you continue to meet creators who have the power to build entire worlds in ways few can. I guess this pattern doesn’t escape you?
No, it doesn’t escape me. I feel grateful that they see something in me and believe in me, at times when I can’t believe in myself. I love what I do. I try very hard. I enjoy what I do and try to choose projects that I would like to watch when I am not doing my job. These are the kinds of themes, genres, and movies that I’m exploring, that I’m watching, that I’m giving rave reviews about, that I’m criticizing, that I’m rooting for. And then it only makes sense that I stay true to what I love and what I like.
Saldana as Gamora with Chris Pratt in Marvel Studios’ guardians of the galaxy vol. 3.
Jessica Miglio/MARVEL
Lastly, I thought it was very well done how Gamora 2.0 and Peter (Chris Pratt) parted ways with mutual respect, rather than a forced romance in guardians of the galaxy vol. 3. Did you also appreciate the fact that James Gunn didn’t take the obvious route?
I did. It was a bittersweet decision, obviously. She wanted to know that in the final chapter, Gamora stays and finds a way to become a Guardian again. But this felt like the right way to end things for her, given what had happened. At the end of the day, whichever multiverse she had come from, she was still going to have the same experience with Thanos. [Josh Brolin], and she was still going to have the same guilt and the same trauma. So she finally found solace with the Ravagers and felt more open than ever.
I think the whole thing with Peter bothered her, because even though she didn’t remember who he was, she had a feeling he must have been special. And I appreciated that takeaway because it gave us hope that if the Guardians seek help again from the Ravagers, maybe Gamora and Peter will find a way back into each other’s lives, even if it’s just as friends.
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Special Ops: Leona premieres July 23 on Paramount+. This interview, conducted prior to the July 13 SAG-AFTRA strike, has been edited for length and clarity.
