Nicole Kidman Teases ‘Lioness’ Season 4 After That “Mic Drop” Finale Twist Season 4

Editor’s note: The following contains major spoilers for Season 3 of Lioness.

Even as a star and executive producer for the Paramount+ action series Lioness, Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman, who plays CIA Clandestine Service supervisor Kaitlyn Meade, thought that gut-punch Season 3 finale ending was a mic drop moment. After tracking Joe (Zoe Saldaña) down following two kidnapping attempts and finally returning her to what ended up being a home emptied by her husband and their two daughters before leaving, it was revealed to viewers that Aaliyah Amrohi (Stephanie Nur) was the one behind the order. All of this means that there are a lot of questions left unanswered, including whether there will be a Season 4.

Collider recently got the opportunity to chat with Kidman about her reaction to the twist, her hope and desire to keep playing Kaitlyn for another season, her shared passion for horses with show creator Taylor Sheridan, who she revealed is very tight-lipped about story secrets, Kaitlyn’s relationship with her husband, and how all of this could change the dynamic with Joe. She also gave an update on where things are at with Big Little Lies Season 3.

Nicole Kidman Admits She Was Shocked by the ‘Lioness’ Season 3 Finale Reveal

“[Taylor Sheridan] did not tell us.”

Image via Paramount+

COLLIDER: This season made me so anxious and nervous. When the end of your third season ties back into your first season, some groundwork has clearly been getting laid out for a while.

NICOLE KIDMAN: Isn’t that insane? When we read it, it was a mic drop. It was like, “What?! Taylor, you are brilliant.” He did not tell us. It was just like, “Oh, God, of course, this is how you do it.” But that’s a great writer.

How did you find out that it was Aaliyah that was the one responsible for Joe’s attempted kidnapping? Did you just get the script and find out as you were reading it?

KIDMAN: Yeah. We always go to Taylor and go, “What the hell? Taylor, come on, give us info.” And he’ll drop little hints every now and then, or he’ll text me certain things because I always have a lot of questions. He and I just have a second language where I can text him or call him and within about two minutes he’s given me some groundbreaking understanding of a particular scene, particularly the scenes with my husband. A lot of times, I’m like, “Okay, what’s really going on here,” because those scenes are very complex. But then, he sent through the last episode, the finale, and we were all salivating. And then, it was that and we were like, “What?!” So, if the audience has the same reaction we did as a cast, that’s good.

What ramifications do you think that will have moving forward?

KIDMAN: I honestly have no idea. I’m like, “Okay, what would this do, if we go a Season 4?” I know we’d love to.

Nicole Kidman Is Hoping for Season 4 of ‘Lioness’

“I don’t want to leave it there.”

You can’t leave it where you did and not come back now.

KIDMAN: Then shout that out to him. Taylor, are you listening? No. I don’t want to leave it there. And also, for me, this is just such a great character to play and there’s so much to come, if we get the chance. They’ve only tipped the iceberg of her, you know. Kaitlyn is an incredibly complicated, extraordinary leader, and she’s a leader. It’s fantastic playing the boss. She’s the most strategic, brilliant strategist, in terms of containing emotion, looking at the consequences, seeing 10 steps ahead, and being able to handle every part of her own conscience, psyche, moral code and always put what she’s pledged, which is allegiance to her nation, first. She will not waver.

I think that’s why people come up to me and they go, “She’s so badass.” She sits there and she’s the coolest customer in the room, besides Morgan [Freeman]. Morgan gets stressed, though. Kaitlyn doesn’t. She’s been trained military-wise because she was a lioness, and she has a military brain. She’s wired in a particular way now. It’s so fascinating. I think it’s an extraordinary way to lead. You don’t see women like that a lot on TV. A lot of times, they break down, crying and cracking. That’s not Kaitlyn. She just doesn’t. She’s not capable of it.

When you work with Taylor Sheridan, does he say things to you like, “Oh, we’ll get to that next season,” or is he extremely tight-lipped and never talks about what could be coming next for the show and your character?

KIDMAN: He holds his cards close to his chest. I know him very well, so I can get little tidbits from him. He’s also just fun to hang out with. He and I share a passion for horses, so we have a whole different sidebar relationship. I have a farm, a ranch, and he has a vast one. We have a whole different way to relate, besides the show, which is great. I love land and I love horses and I love riding.

I would be interested in watching episodes dedicated just to what Kaitlyn’s life with her husband is like when we don’t see them because there’s always so much tension going on every time there’s a scene with them. It just feels like there is so much to their relationship that we don’t see and don’t know. What do you think their relationship is like when we don’t see them?

KIDMAN: It’s deeply loyal and committed, strangely enough. It’s not based on sex. It’s based on a love of each other’s minds and a massive amount of protection of each other, and respect and admiration and care. They spar, and they help each other. It’s a fascinating marriage. It’s a different form, I feel, of a love that is still a very warranted union. You see her in the second season when he talks about his prostate cancer. They’ve been through things together. They’ve both been through an enormous amount together. I think that’s why people would like to see that.

They’re workaholics, both of them. There’s an agreement there, but there’s an enormous amount of protection and loyalty to each other too, which I think you see. Half the time, people go, “What are they talking about?” That’s why I have to call Taylor and go, “What?” Martin [Donovan] and I have worked together. We vibrate very differently because Martin and I did Portrait of a Lady together, with Jane Campion, so we knew each other when we were young. We’ve known each other for decades now. It’s brilliant to be able to use that from when we were young. We have that basis and that foundation.

That’s amazing, especially when you don’t have time to establish that. It makes your history so much more valuable.

KIDMAN: We’re unbelievably comfortable with each other and we have this innate sense of each other. When you’ve known someone for decades, and you’ve known them when they were really, really young, you don’t have to work for that relationship. It’s just there. And I implicitly trust Martin. He’s a brilliantly good actor. When he was first cast, Taylor was in awe of Martin. He loves his acting.

Nicole Kidman Says That Kaitlyn Is Aware of the Cracks in Joe After the Events of ‘Lioness’ Season 3

“She’s aware of the vulnerabilities. She’s aware of the breaking point.”

Image via Paramount+

Joe has never experienced something like what she’s gone through this season. It feels like Joe hasn’t even dealt with anything yet, and I don’t know if Kaitlyn even knows how much it’s all going to affect her. How do you think all of that will change the relationship between Joe and Kaitlyn in another season?

KIDMAN: She’s collecting data. Kaitlyn is watching. She knows Joe’s family. She knows her intrinsically. Kaitlyn is a brilliant instinctual reader of people. It’s how she’s been trained. Kaitlyn does know. She’s aware of the cracks. She’s aware of the vulnerabilities. She’s aware of the breaking point. But Joe is so valuable to her and to the team, so you have extraordinary conflict, in terms of the character. That’s what makes it exciting. She has deep care for Joe. How she shows it is not the typical way of, “Oh, let me hug you.” She’s not tactile. That’s not her. Can she care for her by strategically protecting her and saving her life? Absolutely. She goes, “But you’ve also committed to this higher form of protection of a country and of service, and I have to hold you accountable to that.” It’s a really, really, really difficult relationship for both of them, but they have unbelievable care and admiration for each other, and protection. It’s Lioness.

I love this show, but I especially love all the incredible women in the show. That starts with you and Zoe Saldaña at the center of it, but Bobby, Cruz, and Josie are also very interesting characters.

KIDMAN: Yeah, they’re great women. These women are really formidable, wonderful women. Because we’ve gotten to spend so much time over the course of making three seasons, there’s an ease, there’s an understanding, and there is that lioness protection of each other.

Nicole Kidman Says That ‘Big Little Lies’ Season 3 Is Heading Towards Becoming a Reality

“Reese [Witherspoon] and I live next door to each other, so that helps.”

You have so many great projects with so many great characters that you are playing. You’ve played a lot of memorable characters in your career, but you’ve recently played some great characters across a number of different TV series. Do you know what you’re going to shoot next, especially while you’re waiting to find out about whether you’ll get to do a Season 4 of Lioness? Is a Season 3 of Big Little Lies coming sometime soon?

KIDMAN: Reese [Witherspoon] and I live next door to each other, so that helps Season 3 of Big Little Lies and the way it’s being formed. That’s heading towards the actual shooting date. We’ve set it. At the same time, I see myself as a repertory actor, in a way. When you do repertory theater, a lot of times, you’re doing two shows at once. I’m not doing two shows at once, but in terms of rep theater, which is how I initially started working, you would do a Shakespeare play and then you’d do Ibsen. Actors who are trained theatrically and also who love the art form of acting, that’s what we do. We’re in rep. If you have the opportunity, it’s an extraordinary opportunity to have.

In terms of film and television, if I didn’t have these opportunities, would I be doing rep theater? Probably. Will I do it? Probably. It’s what makes it so exciting. I have no interest in playing myself, over and over again. It’s not how I was formed, initially, as an actor. I was always taught to look for everything that is different, new, and exciting. That’s why my taste is so diverse, and there is nothing too big or too small. We’re working actors. That’s what we do.

Lioness is available to stream on Paramount+.

Release Date

July 23, 2023

Network

Paramount+

• 

• 

  Laysla De Oliveira

  Cruz Manuelos