Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldana are big names with lots in common – they’ve both played superheroes, they’re international superstars and they’re acting together in Paramount+ thriller Special Ops: Lioness. However, it was the pair’s identical star signs that ultimately forged their friendship on set.
“We shared a make-up trailer so we know each other really well,” Nicole laughs, while Zoe adds: “We do! We’re both geminis, we love our families, we work really hard and we really believe in the show!”
The duo star as CIA agents in this spy drama, with Zoe playing Joe – a spook tasked with surveilling the daughter of a notorious terrorist. Working under the agency’s Lioness Programme, which is inspired by a real-life US Military project, Joe must operate undercover alongside an aggressive Marine Raider (Laysla De Oliveria) to prevent the next 9/11 from happening.
While Zoe was keen to play a “strong” woman on the show, the Guardians of the Galaxy star admits that she actually said yes to the show to work with the star power behind it.
“I approached it first and foremost because of [creator Taylor Sheridan] and Nicole. That was a premium package,” the 45-year-old says.
Meanwhile, Big Little Lies star Nicole takes on the role of Kaitlyn Meade – Joe’s boss on The Lioness Programme – although the Australian actress also took on executive producing duties alongside creator Taylor Sheridan, best known for his work on Yellowstone and 1923.
“When it was first coming to fruition and Taylor was writing it, it was great because we would feed him ideas and he would run with it,” the 56-year-old says. “To see what he was going to do with these women with this background, I was like, ‘Hell yeah!’”
Seamlessly slotting into the lives of master criminals’ wives and daughters, the Lionesses get close enough to kill their intended target. However, Joe soon finds that balancing her anti-terrorist professional life and high-pressured personal life is no easy feat.
“I just saw these women who are trying to be selfless in the workforce but also be selfless at home,” Zoe says of the female leads in the show. “They carry it with so much grace and so much love and so much sacrifice.”
And while Nicole takes a supporting role in the show, alongside House of Cards’ Michael Kelly and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman, she’s ready to help the next generation of women in Hollywood from behind the camera. “I’m always looking to help propel, at this stage in my career and life, other women to the forefront,” she says. “You have to share it, transfer it and use it in a positive way.”
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