Breaking Baz: Nicole Kidman Reveals The Secret Of Her Role In Taylor Sheridan’s Paramount+ Spy Action Thriller ‘Special Ops: Lioness’
12.07.2023 - 23:25
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Nicole Kidman hadn’t figured on taking an acting role in the latest entry in the Taylor Sheridan universe, Special Ops: Lioness. Then she got hooked.
“I’ve never done this,” the Oscar- and Emmy-winning star told me. “It was espionage and action,“ which was new territory for her, she explained.
Initially, Kidman had signed on as a producer, having been persuaded to do so by Chris McCarthy, president & CEO Showtime/MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount Media Networks, and David Glasser, CEO and co-founder of 101 Studios. They’re both in the Taylor Sheridan business, having ushered in Yellowstone, 1883, 1923 and a host of other shows for Paramount+.
Then she and Sheridan talked, then talked some more. Kidman’s an admirer of the script Sheridan penned for David Mackenzie’s beautifully realized film Hell or High Water.
“I was like, “Maybe I could play a pivotal role,” stressing that it not be “a lead role” because of “just balancing life and profession,” a reference to her family life with her rocker husband rocker Keith Urban and their daughters Sunday Rose and Faith Margaret.
“But I knew that I wanted to produce it, and then Taylor and I kept talking. We worked on ideas and kept massaging it,” Kidman told me as waiters walked slowly past her to catch a glimpse of the star who had flown to London — “at the last minute,” she said — for the swanky launch party at the Tate Britain art gallery. Paramount+ and 101 Studios co-hosted a lavish soirée in another part of town last year. They hope that a Paramount+ summer bash will become an annual event.
The result of the many conversations between Kidman and Sheridan is a character called Kaitlyn Meade, a senior CIA operative who runs what’s known as the Lioness