Jill Wagner Pitched 'Lioness' To Taylor Sheridan After Her Military Husband Revealed The Real CIA Program

Jill Wagner has been in Taylor Sheridan's orbit for a long time, he was her acting coach before he became the most powerful writer in television, but the reason Lioness exists at all comes down to her husband David Lemanowicz, a U.S. Army Major, coming home one day and telling her something remarkable: a real CIA program using female operatives existed. She went straight to Sheridan.

"I heard about the program from David and I thought, this is the show," Wagner told Fox News Digital. She pitched it.

Sheridan bought it. Three seasons in, Lioness, which stars Zoe Saldaña, Nicole Kidman and Laysla De Oliveira alongside Wagner, is one of Paramount+'s biggest series.

Wagner plays Bobby, the Quick Reaction Force leader of the Lioness program.

She and the cast undergo a month-long boot camp before each season with Navy SEAL and Green Beret technical advisors covering firearms, tactical movement and choreography.

At least one advisor is on set every single day of filming. "Our technical advisors, there was at least one on set at all times, if not two," she said. When friends and family who've watched the show ask if the things they see actually happen, "Yeah, it does. It does."

Season 3 is streaming now on Paramount+, releasing new episodes every Sunday. The story came from the dinner table. Most good ones do.