Nicole Kidman Has a Team of Researchers to Help Understand “Lioness” Scripts: Like 'Doing a Thesis in the CIA'

Staff AuthorThu, April 23, 2026 at 6:29 PM UTC

0

Nicole Kidman attends the Paramount+ The Icons of Taylor Sheridan's Universe on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in NYC; Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade in "Lioness" season 2Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/JanuaryImages for Paramount+/Shutterstock; Lauren Smith/Paramount+ -

Nicole Kidman and Zoe Saldaña have very intense dialogue to nail in Taylor Sheridan's CIA thriller Lioness

Kidman revealed she was her own team of researchers look through her scripts to make sure she understands "every single thing" she's saying

"It's been incredibly exciting, because it's like suddenly doing a thesis in the CIA," she said at Paramount+'s The Icons of Taylor Sheridan's Universe event in New York City

Nicole Kidman takes her Lioness scripts very seriously.

Kidman and Zoe Saldaña lead the Taylor Sheridan series about an undercover CIA program, which is heavy with "technical jargon" as their team attempts to infiltrate terrorist organizations.

At Paramount+'s The Icons of Taylor Sheridan's Universe event in New York City on Wednesday, April 22, Kidman, 58, said she has "my own people that do my research on every single term that I'm using so that I know everything I'm talking about" when it comes to the show's dense scripts.

Initially, the fact-checking "is done by Taylor and all of his people," Kidman said, but she opts to do her own layer of additional prep.

"We have to understand every single thing we're saying," she said. "It has to come trippingly off your tongue. You have to understand everything, and it has to be [like it's] something that you are using as everyday language all the time, which obviously we're not."

"It's been incredibly exciting, because it's like suddenly doing a thesis in the CIA," Kidman said.

Nicole Kidman attends the Paramount+ The Icons of Taylor Sheridan's Universe on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 in NYC.Credit: Kristina Bumphrey/JanuaryImages for Paramount+/Shutterstock

To nail her dialogue, Kidman said she and her Lioness costars Michael Kelly and Morgan Freeman will "run lines" together and break everything down.

"'What does that mean? Decipher it. Definition, definition, definition,' so that we constantly understand what we're talking about. And it is dense," she explained.

Advertisement

Kidman, who stars as CIA supervisor Kaitlyn Meade, also teased what fans can expect from the upcoming installment of the series during the conversation, which was moderated by Puck's Julia Alexander.

"Taylor is so — particularly with Lioness, and particularly season 3, which is going to come out — is so relevant," she said. "I think it's like, wow, it's so topical, and you're constantly treading in these minefields, and you've got to keep up, like, really keep up, because it's really hard to follow."

— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Sheridan, 55, who started out as an actor himself before transitioning into TV writing, is "an incredible acting coach" too on set, Kidman shared. "You can have one call with him, and he'll give you four words at how to play the scene."

Nicole Kidman as Kaitlyn Meade, Michael Kelly as Bryon Westfield and Zoe Saldana as Joe in "Lioness" season 2Credit: Ryan Green/Paramount+

Saldaña, 47, has similarly talked about how challenging Sheridan's dialogue can be in Lioness, but she viewed the role as a way of "addressing my dyslexia and my anxiety."

"He's very dialogue-heavy. It's very wordy. There's a cadence to the way he wants the dialogues in the scenes to be said," she told PEOPLE at the season 2 premiere in 2024. "And I dared myself to believe that maybe I can pull it off."

"But that required a lot more hours of preparation, which, with the support of my husband and my family, I was able to do," she said.

Seasons 1 and 2 of Lioness are now streaming on Paramount+

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”