‘Lioness’ Season 3 Cast Revealed: Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldana Return—Plus Big New Additions
Fan favorites and new faces join 'Lioness' Season 3—here’s who’s returning and why it matters
When it comes to Taylor Sheridan shows, most people think of either Yellowstone or Landman, but several others are just as good and just as dramatic. This includes Special Ops: Lioness, which is releasing its third season later this year. To celebrate this news, we have found out who from the cast will be returning, including the show’s leads Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldaña, the former of which is now the highest paid actor of all time! Read on for more.
Zoe Saldaña as Joe McNamara
Zoe Saldana will return as Joe McNamara in Lioness Season 3. The actress’ other titles include Star Trek (2009), Avatar (2009), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers Endgame (2019), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), Emilia Pérez (2024), Elio (2025) and Avatar: Fire and Ash (2025).
“Taylor Sheridan approached me in 2020, when we were halfway into the pandemic. He sent me the script for the pilot, and I couldn’t put it down. I hadn’t read something as intense and as good in a while, so I was instantly hooked. And he told me, ‘If you respond well to this and you want to become attached, I want to write this for you. I want to write this with you in mind to play Joe,’” Saldaña told The Hollywood Reporter in July of 2023.
“And that came at a time in my life where I just wasn’t prepared to hear it. I didn’t really have that much faith in myself. I also felt a little stuck, and a lot of us can relate to that. So I said, ‘No, thank you.’But a year later, I finished a project for Netflix. I was in Italy and my husband said to me, ‘Just call and see where he’s at with the project.’ So I did, and Taylor still hadn’t cast it. They were still waiting for me, and then 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?’” she concluded.
Saldaña is 47 years old and has been married to Marco Perego-Saldaña since 2013. They have three children together.
Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade
Also returning for Season 3 of Lioness is Nicole Kidman, whose previous credits include Practical Magic (1998), Moulin Rouge! (2001), Just Go With It (2011), Big Little Lies (2017 to 2019), Nine Perfect Strangers (2021 to 2025), Babygirl (2024) and The Perfect Couple (2024). She plays Kaitlyn Meade in Lioness, high ranking CIA Special Activities officer who oversees the Lioness Engagement Team.
“What’s fascinating about a lot of these women, and also people that work in the military, is their ability to handle stress and compartmentalize what they’re doing, and Kaitlyn is the person that can make decisions under duress with no sleep,” Kidman told Deadline of the role in July of 2023. “She’s a leader, but her emotional capacity is fully relegated to: what is the mission? How do I strategically forge the mission? Can we succeed? She’s 10 steps ahead, always 10 steps.”
Kidman is 58-years old and has three children that she shares with her ex-husband, Tom Cruise.
Morgan Freeman as Edwin Mullins
Morgan Freeman joined Lioness at the end of Season 1 and has remained there ever since. Prior to the show he was in The Electric Company (1971 to 1977), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Se7en (1995) March of the Penguins (2005), Dolphin Tale (2011), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Now you See Me (2013), The Lego Movie (2014) and A Good Person (2023).
“I was cast by him [Sheridan] to play the role that he wrote. So it’s almost as if he’s saying to me, ‘I wrote this for you,’ which is flattering in and of itself,” Freeman told TV Insider of Lioness in December of 2024. “After that, there’s nothing like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes.”
Freeman is 88 years old and has four children.
Ian Bohen as Grady
Joining the Lioness Season 3 cast is actor Ian Bohen. Prior to this, he was in Any Day Now (1998 to 2001), Mad Men (2007), Teen Wolf (2011 to 2017) and Yellowstone (2018 to 2024). He will play Grady, a Delta Force operator and K9 handler, in Lioness.
Bohen is 49 years old and originally from Carmel-by-the-Sea, California.
Elizaveta Neretin
Elizaveta Neretin is the most recent Lioness Season 3 cast member to be announced. Before this, she had small roles in The 100 (2018), The Flash (2020) and Mayor of Kingstown (2021), but is generally unknown.
Neretin was born in Cherkasy, Ukraine and grew up in Russia, Ukraine and Moldova. She then moved to Montreal, Québec and has remained in Canada ever since. Her role in Lioness has yet to be announced.
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