The Big Picture

Michael Kelly talks about Paramount+’s spy thriller series
Lioness
and what it’s like to work with the star-studded cast and the prolific Taylor Sheridan as a showrunner.
Kelly discusses the complexity and challenge of filming scenes with large casts and how intimidating it can be.
Kelly teases what might connect Season 1 and Season 2 of
Lioness
and what events that happened in the first season will affect the second one.

If you want more of Michael Kelly after his stint on The Penguin, then look no further than Lioness, where he is the CIA Deputy Director Byron Westfield. The Paramount+ spy thriller series focuses on a special ops program called Lioness where female operatives are sent into environments where they have to get close to the daughters and wives of dangerous men. From terrorists to cartel leaders, these women are tasked with the job of infiltrating the personal lives of these family members and taking down the target from within. While Season 1 mainly saw the leader of this operation, Joe (Zoe Saldaña) working with her boss, Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman), we also did moments with Kelly’s Byron Westfield when they would meet with the Secretary of State (Morgan Freeman) to debrief or (more likely) do damage control. Westfield is somewhat of an enigmatic character. Although he’s firmly in the camp of supporting the Lioness program, the CIA will often bump up against the other government agencies, which forces Westfield into some difficult situations.

We spoke with Kelly about Lioness Season 2, and he teased some future scenes between himself and Freeman that would speak to the complicated dynamics happening politically within the government and also a link between Season 1 of Lioness and Season 2. He talks about working not only with Taylor Sheridan as their showrunner but also acting in these long scenes with the star-studded cast and how intimidating it can be. Finally, he goes into whether or not he would like to ditch the suits for fatigues, considering how combat-heavy the series is.

You can check out the full interview in the video above or the transcript below.

Michael Kelly Calls Taylor Sheridan the God of Television
Image via Paramount+

COLLIDER: Michael, Lioness Season 2, I have to say the show has taken me on some wild rides. What is it like working with Taylor Sheridan as a showrunner? Has anything surprised you about working with him now, going into the second season?

MICHAEL KELLY: He’s a tough son of a bitch. [Laughs] No, he’s great, man. He’s brilliant. I’m a little surprised that he was able to actually, in my opinion — I’ve seen the first two, read the first eight — and I think he was somehow able to make it better in the second season than the first, and I loved the first season. So, hats off because it’s incredible what he did. Working with him, you’re just in awe. He’s operating on another level, and I think he’s damn close to as genius as you’re gonna get. I don’t think it’s ever been done before that someone’s had seven, eight, or 10, I dont know how many shows he has on, and they’re all hits. I don’t think anyone’s ever done it. So, Paramount, you’re welcome. You’ve got the god of television. Way to go.

I’m always surprised by how many projects he has on hand and how many ideas he’s churning out. Honestly, it’s quite impressive.

What Draws Michael Kelly to Morally Grey Character Roles?
Image via HBO

So, I’m really obsessed with the fact that a lot of your characters are these morally dubious people who are maybe not ever living in anything but the moral gray. What draws you to roles like this? Is it a particular role or is it more the personality of the character?

KELLY: For me, I think what draws me to a project in general, whether it’s a writer or showrunner, fellow actors that you wanna work with, or what have you, I think, fortunately for me, with Lioness, I kind of got everything — Taylor Sheridan I’ve been wanting to work with, Nicole Kidman I’ve worked with before, Morgan Freeman, Zoe. Are you kidding me? It’s just a dream. But to get to play these kinds of guys who, like you said, operate in that gray area, it’s fun because it’s a far more complex individual. There is part of Byron Westfield who is feeling and believing this and doing that because he knows he’s got to do what’s ultimately right for what he does. One of the brilliant things that Taylor does is you get to go home with some of these characters and see the impact that it has on them, what they’re doing for a living.

Kelly Describes the Most Challenging Part of ‘Lioness’

You talked a little bit about working with Morgan Freeman and Nicole Kidman. I can’t imagine being in a room with them. I feel like that would be a dream moment, and also, maybe a nightmare because I feel like I would panic. What is it like acting across them and working with them in these tense scenes?

KELLY: This season, I will admit to saying that this season, it got a little bit easier. Season 1, the first time that I walked into that room, I was just like, “Oh my god.” You’re nervous as hell the first time you do a new job anyway, but then you put all those people in the same room and you’re just like, “Oh my god.” I think it’s why everyone in that room comes so prepared because everyone in the room knows what it is in that room, and knows what we’re getting to say, and knows that these scenes can go on for nine minutes sometimes in one take. I don’t mean that they’re shooting the scene in one shot, but a take can be nine minutes long, and so it’s like these little theater pieces. We have so much fun doing them, and they’re physically and mentally exhausting because you get up so high mentally to prepare yourself to walk into that room even. It’s a lot. You finish a day, and you’re like, “I am done, man. I am exhausted.”

Related ‘Lioness’ Season 1 Recap: What You Need To Remember Before Season 2 Where did we leave off with Taylor Sheridan’s thriller last season?

Even the scenarios of those scenes — I feel like what you’re talking about, not only the subject matter but also the vocabulary that you’re using — must be very daunting to get into. You’re like, “Okay, we’re in a room with six other people. If I mess up, then we’re gonna have to start all over again.”

KELLY: Totally. It weighs on you, man. You don’t want to be the guy that messes up. You’re like, “It’s not gonna be me. I’m not gonna screw this up.” So, you work your ass off, and you come as prepared as you can because it’s just a freaking blast, man. It’s a blast.

I imagine your hands are very sweaty at the end of the day.

Kelly Describes Westfield’s Feelings on the Lioness Program and the Bridge Between Season 1 and 2
Image via Paramount

How does your character, Westfield, feel about the Lioness program honestly? I feel like, even though it’s a very useful program and it’s very efficient, it’s also the cause of a lot of problems in dealing with geopolitical issues.

KELLY: Sure, but I think that everything that Byron Westfield deals with is a lot, and it is the consequences of what does or doesn’t happen and what he’s dealing with have geopolitical consequences. So, I think it’s like any other program that he’s watching over and seeing through. But I guess this one does cause him a little more pain than others, a little more conflict than others. But he knows how valuable that program is. He’s the one who’s telling the Secretary of State, “We’re gonna do this because we have to do this,” and fights for the women in his group there. He’s fighting for them.

We’re dealing with a new character in this season, Josie, but Cruz is coming back from Season 1, as well. Is there any connection between these two seasons where we see some of the aftermath of what happened in Season 1 go into Season 2, or is this more of a contained story?

KELLY: I think it’s more of a contained story. I think that’s probably a question more for those guys, as far as Genesis and Zoe and Laysla. They’ll better answer that for you. There’s always going to be, from mission to mission, things that carry over into Byron’s world. Like you said, he’s dealing with the Secretary of State, and quite often his relationship with the Secretary of State is affected from what happened last season, of course. I think it’s inevitable. The way Taylor did it this season, it’s really cool what happens with my character and the Secretary of State this season because of what happened in the first season and how the two come together again this season. He did a great job of that. It really blew my mind, and I was so happy to read it in the script for the first time.

Michael Kelly Manifests a More Active and Hands-On Role for Westfield
Image via Paramount+

Your character spends most of his time in suits, and he’s working in these buildings, but Zoe’s character, a lot of these characters, are out there being very physical. Do you ever have any desire to get into the field and get in those fatigues?

KELLY: Always. Always, always, always. [Laughs] I get to do it on Jack Ryan, and I absolutely love it. I love flying in helicopters and playing, quote-unquote, cops and robbers or cowboys and Indians back in the day, like when you played as a kid. Now, I guess maybe they say cowboys and Native Americans. But you know what I mean? It’s fun. So, yes, of course, I do. I wanna always be in the field.

So, Season 3, we’re gonna see you out there with them.

KELLY: That’s it. You say it, I wish it, and we’ll see if we can make it happen. Lioness Season 2 drops new episodes on Sundays on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Special Ops: Lioness is a Paramount+ original series starring Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman. The series centers on a marine and a CIA agent who work together with the daughter of a dangerous terrorist group to destroy the organization. Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone co-creator) and Jill Wagner created the series, which was directed by Paul Cameron and Anthony Byrne.Release Date July 23, 2023 Seasons 1 Story By Taylor Sheridan, Jill Wagner Streaming Service(s) Paramount+

Watch on Paramount+