Morgan Freeman Joins The Yellowstone Universe In Exciting New Role
Morgan Freeman has officially joined the Yellowstone universe in a role for the new Lioness series.
Morgan Freeman will join Taylor Sheridan’s greater Yellowstone universe as part of Sheridan’s $200 million deal to create shows for Paramount+, according to Hollywood trade, Deadline. Freeman is the newest cast member announced to join Sheridan’s new show, Lioness.
The announcement that Oscar-winner Morgan Freeman will join Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan’s new show is the latest report after an already confirmed all-star cast. Lioness is the newest in a lineup of Paramount+ television series Sheridan has created for the network, including Yellowstone, 1923, 6666, Tulsa King, and Bass Reeves.
Based on a true story, Lioness follows a young Marine who is recruited to befriend the daughter of a terrorist leader in order for the CIA to take down the entire organization from the inside out. The story was pitched to Sheridan by co-creator Jill Wagner, an actress who is known for her prolific Hallmark holiday movies. Morgan Freeman will play Edwin Mullins, the United States Secretary of State, in the Yellowstone creator’s new show.
Morgan Freeman joins a cast of faces that are already familiar to Yellowstone franchise fans, including James Jordan, LaMonica Garrett, and Dave Annable. Lioness also stars Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos, the rugged but eager Marine tasked to join the CIA’s Lioness Engagement Team, which aims to bring down the terrorist organization. Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman will also be headlining the show in addition to executive producing.
While Morgan Freeman joining the greater Yellowstone universe is exciting news, it isn’t super surprising, considering that Taylor Sheridan seems to have a knack for acquiring iconic actors to join his shows. The actor/writer/director was able to rope in Hollywood elite like Harison Ford and Helen Miren for the Yellowstone prequel 1923, a spin-off that ended up breaking records and getting high praise for both the acting and the writing. Considering that Lioness is being executive produced and headlined by some of Hollywood’s biggest names, it’s no wonder that Freeman would be excited to join the team.
Before Morgan Freeman signed on to join the Yellowstone creator’s newest show, the accredited actor was most recently seen in the thrillers, The Minute You Wake Up Dead, and Paradise Highway, which both premiered last year. He also recently appeared in The Kominsky Method, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. Staying busy despite being in his mid-eighties, the 85-year-old actor also recently hosted and produced the nonfiction series Great Escapes with Morgan Freeman, a show about real-life prison breakouts.
While Lioness is not directly connected to the Yellowstone universe, Sheridan is known to recycle actors that he enjoys working with, meaning that it is possible for Morgan Freeman to appear in the Yellowstone universe directly later. Sheridan is one of the hardest-working people in Hollywood, and with so many projects on his hands, it can be hard to keep track of what is coming next and who’s in what. However, more Yellowstone episodes and spin-offs are in the works, so it could be possible that Freeman might join another Sheridan show in the future.
