The TV gods are smiling down on us. Variety reports that Nicole Kidman (of "Heartbreak feels good in a place like this" fame) has officially been cast in Taylor Sheridan's upcoming Paramount+ series Lioness, an action thriller based on a real-life CIA program. The Oscar-winning actress has been attached to executive-produce the series since it was announced, and now it's confirmed that she'll step in front of the camera after all.
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Lioness was co-created by Yellowstone mastermind Sheridan and Hallmark star Jill Wagner. Currently in post-production, the series is billed as a gritty anti-terrorist special-ops drama that follows one Cruz Manuelos (played by Locke & Key's Laysla De Oliveira), a "rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine recruited to join the CIA's Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within."
Kidman will play Kaitlyn Meade, the seasoned CIA operative to Oliveira's greenhorn. Meade is a senior supervisor at the CIA, having dealt with the thorny politics of a high-stakes government agency. From her official character description, it's safe to say Meade will be a compass of sorts for the young female protagonist. Meade "must juggle the trappings of being a woman in the high-ranking intelligence community, a wife that longs for the attention she herself can't even give and a mentor to someone veering suspiciously close to the same rocky road she's found herself on."
The role marks the latest in a string of critically acclaimed television parts for the Australia native. Kidman nabbed Emmy and Golden Globe Awards for her role in the hit HBO series Big Little Lies. More recently, she starred opposite Hugh Grant in HBO's crime thriller The Undoing, and she played a gonzo cult leader in Hulu's Nine Perfect Strangers.
(Kidman is wife to Keith Urban, so fingers crossed she can convince the country star to hop on the Lioness soundtrack with an original song or two.)
In addition to Kidman and Oliveira, the Lioness cast also includes Avatar: The Way of Water's Zoe Saldaña, who will also executive-produce, and series co-creator Wagner.
A handful of Sheridan alums are also set to appear in the series. From Yellowstone, there's Dave Annable (aka Lee Dutton — RIP), James Jordan and Austin Hébert. Stephanie Nur and LaMonica Garrett, who both starred in 1883, have also boarded the show.
The series does not yet have an official release date, but we can expect the drama to premiere sometime in 2023.
Meanwhile, there's a wealth of Sheridan content to bask in: the season 1 finale of Tulsa King streams Jan. 7; and Mayor of Kingstown returns for its second season on Jan. 15.
READ MORE: 'Yellowstone' Creator Taylor Sheridan Reveals the Unexpected Way '1923' Was Born
