‘He Forces You To Run Into The Fire’: ‘Lioness’ Actress Reveals Life On Taylor Sheridan’s Set

“Lioness” actress Jill Wagner said series creator Taylor Sheridan gave her just 10 minutes to relearn a tactical sequence using her non-dominant hand, the kind of challenge that she says “forces you to run into the fire.”

Wagner, 47, told People that Sheridan issued the last-minute direction while she and co-star Laysla De Oliveira were preparing to film a scene for the third season of the Paramount+ series.

“I won’t say that anything was so physically draining for me this season because I do think this season is a bit more cerebral,” Wagner told the outlet. “But I will say there was one day that Laysla [de Oliveira] and I were trying to get this entrance into the house. Cruz and Bobby have to come in and clear the room, and we were having difficulties with some of the angles.”

Wagner said she and De Oliveira had already learned the sequence when Sheridan stepped in shortly before filming.

“Ten minutes before we roll, he comes in and says, ‘No, I think you should switch arms. Transition your weapon to your left arm,'” Wagner added. “And I was just like, ‘Hmm … okay. Help me’ … Ultimately, we worked it out, and it’s probably going to be one of my favorite moments.”

De Oliveira agreed that Sheridan’s on-set asks could be daunting, but said that they also instilled confidence in his actors.

“Once you go through that experience, you really leave the set thinking, ‘Wow, I can do anything!’ If you can pick that up, then you go onto another set and think, ‘Well, this one time I did everything with my left hand even though I’m right-handed.’ So it’s a great opportunity for us.”

“He forces you to run into the fire. He really does,” Wagner said.

Wagner’s description echoed recent comments from co-star Zoe Saldana, who said Sheridan gives his actors two choices when he raises the bar.

“Working with him is a challenge in the sense that he does raise the bar,” Saldana said ahead of the third season. “And you have one of two choices. You either accept the challenge and make sure that you don’t f*ck up … or you quit. And I like being challenged. I really do.”

Wagner, who stars as Quick Reaction Force leader Bobby and serves as an executive producer on “Lioness,” helped originate the idea for the series after learning about the military’s real-life Lioness program from her husband, U.S. Army Major David Lemanowicz.

The program deployed female U.S. Marines alongside combat units in Iraq and Afghanistan, allowing them to search and question women while respecting local cultural restrictions. The teams also worked to prevent insurgents from using women and children to smuggle weapons.

Wagner, who previously appeared in a number of films for Hallmark Channel and then Great American Family, cut her hair and underwent intense physical and tactical training for the role.

“I think because we’re telling important stories about women who are still currently over there doing these jobs, I think it’s really important that we remind people — not just women, but men as well — that they’re over there fighting for a lot of different things for us and sacrificing. I just think it’s important to remind people and to honor that,” Wagner said of the show.

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