Morgan Freeman commends Taylor Sheridan’s writing: ‘It takes courage’

Emlyn TravisThu, August 6, 2026 at 5:44 PM UTC

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Morgan Freeman; Taylor SheridanCredit: Presley Ann/Getty; Cindy Ord/GettyKey Points -

Morgan Freeman is celebrating Taylor Sheridan’s writing.

The Lioness star says “it takes courage” to write as openly and honestly as Sheridan, the show’s creator.

“His writing has to do more with the human experience, what people are actually going through, emotionally, in a lot of cases,” Freeman said.

Morgan Freeman is singing Taylor Sheridan’s praises.

The 89-year-old actor, who currently stars on Sheridan’s spy thriller Lioness, revealed in a recentNew York Times interview that he believes it takes real courage to write as openly and honestly as the Yellowstone creator.

“His writing has to do more with the human experience, what people are actually going through, emotionally, in a lot of cases,” Freeman said. “You saw that a lot in Yellowstone, and you actually see it a lot in any of his writings.”

Morgan Freeman on ‘Lioness’Credit: Lauren Smith/Paramount+

The Oscar-winning actor plays Secretary of State Edwin Mullins on the Paramount+ series, which returned for its third season Sunday. The series also stars Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman, and Sheridan himself as Sgt. Major Cody Spears.

“And here, in Lioness, in Joe’s [Saldaña’s character] case, for instance, he is dealing with a woman whose life is on the line very often,” Freeman continued. “She has kids and a husband. She makes decisions and she has to consider these. It takes courage to write about stuff like that, and Taylor seems to have an awful lot of it.”

Inspired by a real-life U.S. Marine Corps program, Lioness follows CIA officer Joe McNamara as she leads a team of female operatives who go undercover amid the ongoing war on terror.

Despite the subject matter, Freeman told the New York Times that the series isn’t focused on any “contemporary geopolitical issues at all” and stays firmly in its own lane.  He added, “We know that people are going to come away with something that shows what their own ideas about what they saw and what it means, but as we present it, it has nothing to do with current situations at all.”

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Freeman isn’t the only Lioness cast member dishing on Sheridan’s approach to writing. In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Saldaña described him as a “fountain of information” and revealed that she frequently called him to discuss season 3’s scripts.

“Taylor’s a very educated man, and he’s very curious about foreign and domestic affairs, and he really has a lot to say about all the information that he’s able to take on,” she said. “And I do have to call him a whole lot, asking, ‘What does this mean? What does this stand for? Is this how it really happened? Why is there conflict here? What do you understand about this?’”

Saldaña added, “I’m just grateful that, when he is able to pick up the phone, because he’s so busy, he’s this fountain of information. And it’s so helpful, because otherwise I don’t know how I would be able to say the mouthfuls of dialogue that he has for us.”

Morgan Freeman on ‘Lioness’Credit: Luke Varley/Paramount+

She wasn’t alone on that quest either. Saldaña recently told PEOPLE that she and Kidman would often join forces to find Sheridan on set and discuss scenes that “don’t feel like they’re making any sense.”

“We tag team finding out where Taylor is and seeing if he’s going to call us back,” she said, “because, when we need him, it’s always having to do with the work.”

New episodes of Lioness premiere Sundays on Paramount+.

on Entertainment Weekly

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”