Jill Wagner is known in Lioness for playing Bobby, the leader of the show’s Quick Reaction Force, but her contribution to the Paramount+ drama began before she took on the role. Wagner pitched the series to Taylor Sheridan, her former acting coach and its eventual creator.
The idea developed during a conversation with her husband, David Lemanowicz, a U.S. Army major and executive producer on Lioness. When he asked Wagner whether there was something she had always wanted to do, she said she wanted to play someone in the military. Lemanowicz then told her about the impressive women he had worked with, helping shape the concept for a series about undercover female CIA operatives and the team that supports them when missions go wrong.
Wagner said she was concerned that a story about women in military roles could be reduced to an exaggerated action fantasy. She believed Sheridan’s approach could present the characters as realistic heroes and do justice to the sacrifices made by women serving their country. Wagner also serves as an executive producer on the series.
Lioness has given Wagner the opportunity to portray a service member, an ambition connected to her family background. Her husband is an Army major, while her grandfather and father both served in the U.S. Marine Corps. Wagner has said that not joining the military herself is one of her biggest regrets, but that playing a military character allows her to honor those who serve.
The series, which recently aired its third season, has therefore become a personal tribute for Wagner. She described Lioness as a “love letter” to people with military experience and to the stories of those who sacrifice for their country.
Sources: TVLine.