Original-Cin Q&A: Toronto actor Laysla De Oliveira on Yellowstone creator's Special Ops: Lioness
By Bonnie Laufer
It’s beyond understatement to say Taylor Sheridan has had some hits - as an actor (Sons of Anarchy), a writer (the Oscar-nominated Hell or High Water), and as a series creator (Yellowstone and its sequels, plus The Mayor of Kingstown and Tulsa King.
Add his latest series Special Ops: Lioness to the party.
Inspired by an actual U.S. Military program, Special Ops: Lioness follows the life of Joe (Zoe Saldana) who attempts to balance her personal and professional life as the tip of the CIA's spear in the war on terror.
Laysla De Oliveira as ex-Marine turned CIA anti-terrorist operative Cruz in Special Ops: Lioness
The Lioness Program, overseen by Kaitlyn Meade (Nicole Kidman) and Donald Westfield (Michael Kelly), enlists an aggressive Marine Raider named Cruz (Laysla De Oliveira) to operate undercover alongside Joe among the power brokers of state terrorism. Together, they are the CIA’s best bet to thwart the next 9/11.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke to star Laysla De Oliviera (Toronto’s own) about starring in this series and working alongside the cast and the prolific Taylor Sheridan.
Special Ops: Lioness premieres globally on Sunday, July 23 with two episodes, exclusively on Paramount+
This interview was conducted before the Screen Actors Guild strike.
ORIGINAL-CIN: Laysla, full disclosure. I was a huge Locke & Key fan and loved your portrayal of the “baddie” Dodge. That was one juicy role, but playing Cruz in Special Ops: Lioness is at a whole new level. What is it like to live in Taylor Sheridan’s world?
LAYSLA De OLIVEIRA: It's such a dream come true. I am so thankful that he saw Cruz in me.
He's such a prolific writer. He writes these simple stories with dynamic characters that drive the story so it provides something so great to play with. It's an actor's dream, but then to add the element of working with your idols. It was just a total pinch me moment.
O-C: You mentioned working opposite your idols, this cast is unbelievable. Zoe Saldana, Nicole Kidman, Michael Kelly, and God Himself, Morgan Freeman. What do you learn from these veterans?
De OLIVEIRA: My goodness, it was so incredible to see just how focused and present they are. It really elevates everybody's work around them. What I really admire the most is how kind of generous they were as well. They were so welcoming. Not that I expected anybody to be mean, but they were just so kind and lovely.
O-C: There's a lot involved here, not just physically but mentally. Clearly, physical preparation is evident when we see you in action. But I wanted to know how you prepared to play her from a mental state.
De OLIVEIRA: That's a great question. I get a lot of questions about the physical and not so much the emotional.
My character Cruz goes through a very emotionally demanding journey. And so, when I took on this part, I was very terrified about the physical aspect.
But the thing is, if you show up to training every day, it will come. Then you need to tune in to that emotional side and whatever works for you.
I love doing playlists, it helps put me in a mindset. It was so interesting, because I had never done something for this period of time that was this emotionally demanding. So I found that it was easier to tune in and fall into that rhythm of emotion. As the shooting progressed, it was also harder to get out of it.
So really, it was an endurance game emotionally and also physically as well. I had to really plan out the week like, “Okay, on Monday, if I'm running for 10 hours that day, where do we draw the limit so that we can do the stuff for Friday?”
It was just such a great lesson. I really pay close attention to Zoe (Saldana) because I had a lot of scenes with her and how she handled everything. I was a sponge when it came to that.
O-C: Do you think that you as Laysla could go undercover and succeed?
De OLIVEIRA: Ha, no way! Laysla is a terrible liar. So I'm not sure.
What really resonated with me about her is her heart. I felt like I really knew her heart. I really knew her fight.
I'm a daughter of immigrant parents. I've heard those stories firsthand, and I really wanted to channel that through that character in terms of physicality and how she presents herself in the world. How she converses and how she operates is so different from me, and so I found that such an exciting situation to explore.