Hit Show ‘Lioness’ Filmed Its Doha Bathtub Scene at a Texas Mansion

The season finale of Taylor Sheridan’s spy drama “Lioness” delivered one of its biggest twists yet, and part of the scene that revealed it was actually shot in Texas, according to the actress at the center of the reveal.

In the Season 3 finale, viewers learned that Aaliyah Amrohi, played by Stephanie Nur, had twice ordered the abduction of CIA officer Joe McNamara, played by Zoe Saldaña. The reveal came as Aaliyah made a striking return to the show, emerging from a bathtub in what appears onscreen to be a lavish apartment in Doha, Qatar.

But the apartment wasn’t in Qatar at all. “We shot at this beautiful house in Texas, and they CGI’d the Doha skyline,” Nur told Decider. “It was really cool.” She described the room built for the scene, including a deep pink marble bathtub, as strikingly opulent. “I don’t know if people know how much TV magic went into filming that scene,” she said.

The twist capped a long-running storyline dating back to the show’s first season, when Cruz Manuelos, played by Laysla De Oliveira, went undercover as “Zara” to get close to Aaliyah in order to reach her father, a terrorist financier and billionaire named Asmar Ali Amrohi, played by Bassem Youssef. Cruz and Aaliyah fell into a secret romance before Cruz killed Aaliyah’s father and fiancé and disappeared without explanation.

Nur said she learned Aaliyah’s story would continue when series creator Taylor Sheridan called her directly earlier this year. “I think I screamed right into the phone,” she said. “I was like, ‘I’m sorry about your ear!’ I was in the dark as much as the audience! I just had no idea what Taylor had been plotting.”

Nur, who previously worked with Sheridan on “1883” alongside Sam Elliott before being cast in “Lioness,” said the nearly three-year gap since filming Season 1 made the news especially surprising.

Asked how she imagines Aaliyah has spent the years since being betrayed, Nur described a character transformed by grief and rage. “Aaliyah was a very sensitive person who wore her heart on her sleeve,” she said. “I imagine she felt very angry and betrayed by what happened. She’s had to live with the betrayal by the woman she loved and who she thought loved her. It’s quite a suffering place to be. Her pain must be incredible.”

Nur said she wasn’t given specifics about Aaliyah’s backstory during the time jump. “At this point, I don’t have any details about what she’s been through,” she said. “However, it was my job to portray what her mental and emotional state would be after she learned that Joe had escaped once again.”

She also said she isn’t sure why Aaliyah appears to be targeting Joe before confronting Cruz, the woman she knew as Zara. “That’s a great question, but it’s more of a question for Taylor,” she said. “Maybe Aaliyah is biding her time before confronting the woman she knew as Zara, whom she loved, but who also destroyed the life she knew. I really can’t say.”

Nur said returning to the character felt natural, in part because Aaliyah had stayed with her long after production on Season 1 wrapped. “After we wrapped on Season 1, I was having dreams as Aaliyah. I was still very much in character,” she said. “A part of me must have known I would play Aaliyah again… Aaliyah has never been very far away from me.”