LaMonica Garrett Reveals the Taylor Sheridan Show He Wants on Next After ‘1883’ & ‘Lioness’

LaMonica Garrett is now starring in his second Taylor Sheridan show, Lioness, and after his experience working with the megaproducer, he definitely wants to do more.

Speaking to TV Insider ahead of Sunday’s (August 30) fifth episode of Season 3, the actor recalled how much of a joy it was on the set of Yellowstone prequel 1883, in which he played the former-slave-turned-Buffalo Soldier Thomas.

“That was probably the biggest job I’ve ever had. It was the most fulfilling job I’ve ever had. And it was also the hardest job I’ve ever had,” he explained. Thanks to the production taking place amid the COVID pandemic, the production was done in a bubble — and that made the bonding experience even more memorable for he and the rest of the cast.

“If you have karaoke night on the ranch at Taylor’s ranch with him, Tim [McGraw] and Faith [Hill], the experience is going to be the experience that you probably won’t ever have again,” Garrett remembered.

So, when he got the call to collaborate with Sheridan again, it was an automatic yes.

“I did another show, The Terminal List — it came out after 1883 — so I was in Vegas at a UFC fight promoting that show with Chris Pratt and [writer] David DiGilio and that whole team. And I get a call…. It’s like eight, nine at night. I’ve already had a few drinks, hanging out with the guys, and I get a call, and it was Taylor and my manager, and they were saying, like, ‘Hey, he’s doing this new show’ and ‘I want you to be a part of it.’ [I was like,] ‘I’m sorry? Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it!'” the actor said. “He’s writing it. He’s showrunning. He’s doing all that. I don’t need to know what it’s about. I don’t need to know the specifics” to sign the dotted line for Lioness.

It was icing on the cake to hear that he’d get to work with an avalanche of A-listers on the cast, too.

“Later on, you find out Zoe Saldaña is in it, Nicole [Kidman]. And I didn’t even know Morgan Freeman was in it until we were like 80% done with filming,” said Garrett. “We were in Mallorca, and we’re in this hotel. And I see Morgan Freeman here. It’s like, ‘Oh wait. I wonder what he’s filming out here. What else is shooting out Mallorca right now?’ They’re like, ‘No, he’s with us.’ [I said,] “What? We got Morgan, too?!” … So I’m grateful to be in that wheel of the recycled actors that Taylor likes to use.”

In Lioness, of course, Garrett stars as the tough-as-nails task force member, Tucker, whose backstory is still a mystery, even to him. “Me and Taylor never really had to talk about his backstory, but he is a Marine, and Tucker and Cruz [Laysla De Oliveira] are the only Marines in the QRF on the group. He’s a MARSOC Marine, which is the baddest of asses as far Marines go. We joke around with it like, ‘All right, Tucker, is that his last name or his first name? Where did he come from? Was he ever married?’ I created stuff in my head.”

Garrett sees his Lioness counterpart as being ultimately informed by his sense of duty, and the fact that the close-knit vibes he felt on 1883 have translated to Lioness only helps reinforce that sense of faithfulness to the team. “[Tucker’s] only mission in life right now is to protect his team and to be there with his brothers and his sisters, and I think that translates when you see them all together,” he said. “The years that we’ve all been together as a cast — this is the longest I’ve ever been on one show, one project, this is three seasons now — we hang out a lot. We’re in Fort Worth. We’ll go to the stockyards. We’ll go to Billy Bob [Thornton]’s concerts. We do Stagecoach every year. We do stuff together, and that bonding away from the work that shows up on game day when it’s time to film, and it’s just a cohesive unit because of the time we’ve been together, and that helps all of us, not just Tucker.”

If the trend continues, Garrett said, he’d love to roll on into Landman next — and for a very specific reason.

“Once you start working outside in nature, and my first time experiencing that was 1883… I’m in this full wool coat, leather chaps. It was 110 degrees. It was miserable for a lot of people, but I enjoyed it, and it was great to be out there. You’re on your horse every day, and with Lioness, a lot of the stuff that the QRF does, our side of the team, we’re running through forests, we’re running through trees, where I’m climbing roofs, in neighborhoods. It’s full-body acting,” he said. “It’s active, and I consider myself an action guy, so put me on Landman out there with the sun on my back and a big wrench, and have me fix one of these wells or whatever’s going on. That would be something that I can get down with.”

Lioness, Sundays, Paramount+