FORT WORTH, Texas — LaMonica Garrett has come to love Fort Worth during his time working with Taylor Sheridan.

Garrett, 51, had a breakout role in Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” prequel “1883” as Thomas, a Pinkerton agent who befriends Sam Elliott’s Shea Brennon. The show filmed across North Texas, including in Weatherford and Fort Worth, back in 2021.

Just a few years later, Sheridan recruited Garrett into his spy thriller series “Lioness,” where he plays Tucker. For Seasons 2 and 3, the show made a home base in Cowtown.

“They take care of you out there and they love Taylor, he’s a hometown kid,” Garrett said on working in Fort Worth.

Ahead of “Lioness” Episode 5, which premiered on Sunday, Aug. 30, Garrett spoke to the Star-Telegram about the show.

He also chatted about how the filmmaking scene in Fort Worth has evolved over the years from his time on “1883.” There may be a spoiler or two in there about “Lioness,” so it’s best to be caught up through the fifth episode.

[This interview has been edited for clarity and length.]

Q: We’re three seasons into “Lioness.” What still excites you about this show and makes you ready to come into work each day?

A: I think Taylor [Sheridan] writing these words. You’re experiencing something, and it’s going to be something like you haven’t seen before when Taylor’s behind it. It’s just getting to show up with people that you love, like your friends. You can call them friends now. They’re family. They’re friends. This is the longest I’ve been on a season or a project. The longest I was on something before was two seasons, and this right now we’re on three, and hopefully we get a fourth. We’ll see how that goes.

But you just grow with these people, and when we’re not filming, we’re out in Fort Worth at the Stockyards, at Chumley House, at Billy Bob’s [Texas]. We get out and we have fun together. That camaraderie that we’ve built away from the camera, it translates when we’re all together on screen. It starts with Taylor, and it ends up with all of us just loving each other and being there for each other.

Q: That reminds me a line that Tucker says in this episode that “the perks of this job are endless.”

A: Tucker saying that, that resonates with every actor away from the scene. The perks of this job are endless. We get to say Taylor’s words, and we get to show up to work each day. But a lot of people can’t say that right now, so we’re all grateful.

Q: The new wrinkle this season is the dual timeline narrative. I think they feed into each other, because you see how much Joe’s team cares about her when she’s here and how devastated they are when she’s gone. Logistically, how different was making this season compared to the first two? Did you film with Zoe [Saldaña] up to a point and then she was gone? Or, were you filming both timelines at the same time?

A: With Taylor, he has a unique way of filming, and after I did “1883,” I got to witness that firsthand. It was different in a lot of reasons. I came from a network TV background, where say you’re filming Episode 11 now, you film that episode, you finish it, and then you get the next script. You do Episode 12, then you do Episode 13, until you’re at the very end. Taylor, you’ll get a few episodes up front, but you might film one day on Episode 1, and then jump to Episode 2, and film like a week. Then go back to one for two or three days, and then you might start filming Episode 3 because the location we’re in, might as well do it. So, it bounces around anyway.

It wasn’t really chronological, so we didn’t have time to miss Joe because we were with Joe every day, still shooting other stuff in different parts of the timeline. I think it was unique this time as well. We were filming in the winter, like the Halloween and Thanksgiving months. We couldn’t go home for Thanksgiving, a lot of the actors. We had to stay there because we were filming the next day. Zoe opened up her house, and a few of us on the show have kids with us, like all of our families are there. It’s a family environment on the show as well, so we all went to Zoe’s house and we just had a big Thanksgiving dinner together. We took this big massive picture and it was just a great night.

When you have these family moments in Thanksgiving and Christmas, it makes you all closer as humans, so when you’re back on set again, it just translates. The right hand knows what the left is doing, and that concern that the characters had for Joe, the actors were like, we got to get her back too. It was all interwoven.

Q: Do you like that nonlinear shooting style better? Or, do you prefer the week-to-week routine? That’s like a movie schedule.

A: [Taylor] said he writes it like a movie. He writes like eight episodes as a film and just breaks it up and chops it up, but it keeps you on your toes. Even if you are playing the same character year in and year out, we don’t do that, but some actors might want to phone it in. You can’t phone it in because, its like, “OK, where are we at now?” It makes everyone be on their toes. The script supervisor has to be sharp. Wardrobe [is like], “OK, you had blood in Episode 3, but not on 2. We need you to go change.” If one thing is off, the audience is like, “No, I call bull. The hair’s not right.” Or whatever it is. It just makes you be more present and on top of it. I prefer it that way. It’s trickier, but it’s worth it.

Q: Let's talk Episode 5, which is called “Idiot Army,” but I think could really be called “Scorched Earth” because you guys are getting after it. There are two scenes in particular where Tucker is in the background as Joe digs into these guys in the hotel room and at the college lecture. What’s it like for you to get a front-row view of something like that?

A: It’s great, man. I know you only see one take when they edit it, like that’s all you get. But watching her, she’ll do four or five different takes that are all like, “Damn, I feel bad for the editor. Like, how you gonna choose which one?” It’s fun watching her navigate these scenes with so much texture and so many layers. Just all of these takes are watchable and unique, and whatever you pick is whatever you pick. But yeah, when I first started working with Zoe, I was like, “Oh, damn, this is Gamora. All right, it’s game time now [laughs]. This is the big leagues.” But yeah, she’s incredible. She’s a force.

Q: In Episode 5, there’s a scene where you pick someone up and threaten to throw them out a window. In a scene where you’re just picking someone up like that, does it require the same amount of planning and procedure as some of these bigger action scenes?

A: Absolutely. Wade [Allen], our stunt guy, he handles every situation like it’s the biggest situation. Picking up a grown man like a sack of potatoes, I don’t care how strong you are, on take 20, like this is getting old. My shoulders start to lean a little bit, and this show as a whole is very physical for the QRF [quick reaction force]. It’s very physical for Zoe. They’re not fake guns, they’re real weapons and they’re heavy. They have a way of writing in [that] Tucker carries all the heavy stuff, whether it’s a unique gun that weighs X amount of pounds, and you also have your SIG rifle that weighs this, and you have your backpack, and they got hammers in there. Like I’m that guy.

Then you have Joe saying, “Hey Tucker, we need you to get on top of the mountain. We need to get eyes on everything." It’s a physical show, but our stunt team handles all of it, so you never feel like I’m wearing down, or if you need a breather they’ll give you one and everything is handled to make the job easier for you. But at some point, it is what it is. Take after take, you got to be physical.

Q: You mention being physical, I know you enjoy working out. As actors, your main tool to do your job is your body. What does fitness and physique mean to you in your work and in your everyday life?

A: For me, working out, you take care of yourself. The roles that I want to play require that I look a certain way and have a certain amount of energy. I like being the action guy. I like these physical roles. I’d much rather do these roles than sitting at a desk and saying a bunch of words with a suit on. And there’s a world where that exists too, not knocking that. I’m sure later in life I’ll be behind a desk. But right now, while this I still got this instrument, I’d love to do as much physical stuff as possible. And working out for me, it’s more mental than it is for physical. Like it’s a stress relief. It’s for just mental therapy, mental health.

If I’m having a bad day about something, like as an actor, I’ll have a big audition, you get out of the room and you got all this stuff going through your head. I go to the gym, and it works itself out. If I got stress about whatever it is, family life, day-to-day stuff, whatever, I go to the gym and it works itself out. It’s more mental than physical. But I know for what I want to do in this business, I have to look a certain way and be a certain way, so it lends to itself to stay in there.

Q: I’d love to talk to you about how much the filmmaking landscape has changed in Fort Worth over the years. When you made “1883” here back in 2021, the scene wasn’t as big as it is now. Taylor has SGS Studios in north Fort Worth, and Texas recently landed better film incentives. It’s only been five years, but in your eyes, could you walk me through how much change the Fort Worth filmmaking scene has evolved now through “Lioness” Season 3?

A: I’ve seen it. Like you said, five years ago we were on ranch to ranch, and it was unique back then because it was COVID, and we all had to stay together. There was one time when someone got some of the cast together, it was right when we broke cowboy camp. It was like our celebration, like, “Man, we got to do something.” One of the guys that Taylor knew got a van for us to go into Fort Worth, and it was the first time going into Fort Worth. We’ve been in Weatherford at this ranch for the whole time. Taylor found out about it, rung dude a new hole, and we all jumped in the van, we had to get back. Like, “Where are my actors at? Get them back here.” Because it’s COVID and we’re doing the swab thing every day. I get it.

We were going as a team, as a unit, from ranch to ranch through Amarillo, all parts of Texas like Guthrie, Dixon. Now you have this huge studio that wasn’t there before. Now it’s a trip driving into work and “Lioness” is filming here, “Dutton Ranch” is filming here, “The Madison” is filming here. Like, wow, man. You could just see the landscape out here just getting bigger and bigger, and it’s not gonna stop. It’s only gonna get bigger. Taylor’s not gonna stop writing.

But, of all cities, Fort Worth is a great city to have that. They embrace you everywhere we go, like they love Taylor’s shows. They see the landmarks in the show, and they take pride in that. Like, “I know you guys were at Chumley, I know you guys are at whatever hotel, or Billy Bob’s.” They take care of you out there and they love Taylor, he’s a hometown kid. They recognize us, and it’s just a great environment to be around.

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“Lioness” airs Sundays on Paramount+.

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