The Big Picture

Morgan Freeman sits down to talk with Collider about the Paramount+ spy thriller,
Lioness
, and becoming a Season 2 regular.
Freeman reveals his secret on how to nail those large scenes with many actors involved in long takes.
Freeman also confesses his bucket list roles and what TV shows he’s binged.

Lioness, the spy thriller Paramount+ series helmed by Taylor Sheridan, has gained a major asset for Season 2 in the form of Morgan Freeman, who has graduated from recurring to regular cast member. The legendary actor plays the U.S. Secretary of State Edwin Mullins in the action series, where he faces off constantly against the CIA and sits across Nicole Kidman’s Kaitlyn Meade, Michael Kelly’s Byron Westfield, and Zoe Saldaña’s Joe to break down the perilous and high-stakes missions that the CIA enacts in the Lioness program. While Mullins was more of a background figure in Season 1, Season 2 will likely see him having a larger hand in the current mission to take down a Mexican cartel head.

We spoke with Freeman for Lioness Season 2, and Freeman gave us his top three reasons for being part of this series. He reveals how he still nails those long scenes with many other actors. He also talks about what remains on his acting bucket list and what it’s like bingeing all of Taylor Sheridan’s shows.

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

What Three Reasons Does Morgan Freeman Give for Joining ‘Lioness’
Image via Paramount+

COLLIDER: I’m very excited to speak with you. You are obviously a legend and I am really enjoying your performance on Lioness Season 2. What is it about working on this show that made you come back for the second season? Is it working with Taylor Sheridan? Is it the cast? What is it that drew you back to this role?

MORGAN FREEMAN: Do you want the truth, or should I make something up?

No, you can tell me the truth.

FREEMAN: [Laughs] Number one, it’s a Taylor Sheridan project, and I’m just, number one, thrilled to be in that loop. Number two, it’s an incredible cast that I work with — Zoe and Nicole and Michael and Bruce. Just that alone is enough. To top it all off, I’m paid to do it.

What more could you ask for?

FREEMAN: Right. How much better can it be?

Morgan Freeman Has an Incredible Gift for Learning Lines
Image via Paramount

I was talking to Michael Kelly a little bit earlier and he was telling me about these scenes that you guys have in the situation room where you’re filming for quite a long time. How do you get prepared for scenes like that where there are a lot of people involved and you can’t mess up because if you mess up then everybody’s got to do it again?

FREEMAN: Learn your lines as best you can. When I was a kid, I remember I had a three-act play and almost no time. It’s incredible I had that gift. I would say if I have a gift, it was for learning lines. But in a crowd, it doesn’t matter if you forget something. Nobody minds going back because they’re gonna do it, too.

Morgan Freeman Is Ready for His Next Action Role, Taylor Sheridan

You’ve had such a prolific career and you’ve had amazing roles throughout your life, but is there anything that you haven’t done yet that you really want to do? Is there something that you’ve been chasing that’s on the bucket list, so to speak?

FREEMAN: Well, my bucket list is pretty much scratched out now. There were a few things that were still there that were missed, but they’re earlier on; I couldn’t do it now to save my life. But when I grew up, as a little boy, I’d always get up in the morning and strap on my guns. I’m a gunfighter, so I always wanted to do one of those roles.

This is the show to do it if you were gonna pick any other show. You could tell Taylor Sheridan, “Put me in there for maybe a short scene.” Maybe not something too long.

FREEMAN: You may have an idea there.

Taylor, I’m talking to you.

So, Taylor Sheridan’s ideas are very big.

FREEMAN: Very big.

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?

Shows like this, I can’t imagine the scope that it takes to think them all out. What has been a surprise for you working with him and his team?

FREEMAN: The very fact that I am working with him on one of his projects. I’m like everybody else — I started watching Yellowstone and I just got to make it to the next season, the next show. And then he comes up with these other shows — 1883, 1923 — and the writing is so catchy. You’re grabbed by the very writing itself. The man is astounding. So, there you go. What’s the surprise? The surprise is that I’m there, too, now. 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+