Yahoo News ‘Special Ops: Lioness’ Star Laysla De Oliveira On Playing A CIA Recruit For Taylor Sheridan: “It Physically Hurt, And Emotionally Hurt, Too”
In Taylor Sheridan’s Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+, Laysla De Oliveira shocks and awes as Cruz Manuelos, a military recruit who escapes the mean streets to go undercover in the CIA’s war against terrorism.
Here, the Ontario-born newcomer talks about how painful it was — both literally and figuratively — to kick ass in the drama that also stars Zoë Saldaña (Joe), Nicole Kidman (Kaitlyn Meade), Dave Annable (Joe’s husband Neal), Michael Kelly (Bryon Westfield) and Morgan Freeman (Edwin Mullins).
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“I can finally talk about it because it’s been a little bit of torture, not being able to shout it from the rooftops,” De Olivera says in reference to how the drama dropped during the actors strike and thus prevented her from talking about the series. “It’s such a dream job.”
DEADLINE How did this role find you?
LAYSLA DE OLIVEIRA I got a call from Taylor that he wanted to meet me. It was at the peak of Covid. I had to fly to Montana where they were shooting Yellowstone. I performed the entire first episode for him on the set while he was directing an episode. It was really exhilarating. When I was done, I went home and thought, ‘oh my gosh, this has totally changed my life.’ I was just so excited to be there and to be considered. That was such a win for me already. I found out two weeks later that I got the role, but then I had to keep it a secret for about a year and a half to two years before we started shooting. I wanted to tell everybody that I was going to be working with Nicole Kidman and Zoë Saldaña and Morgan Freeman. It was absolute torture.
DEADLINE Where was production?
DE OLIVEIRA We were in Baltimore for most of it from September to December, and then we went to Mallorca and Morocco. We really shot out of order because that first episode takes place in Morocco. We ended up shooting the scene where Cruz meets Aaliyah (Stephanie Nur) for the first time last. That was actually the last scene we shot together. We were all over the map. But it was really great for my character because I feel like mentally, she’s all over the map, too.
DEADLINE It looks like your character pretty much hates Joe the whole time. I guess she can’t really be sympathetic because she needs Cruz to remain tough, right?
DE OLIVEIRA Yeah. She needs to know if Cruz can do it, and Cruz is such an interesting character because she is really tough physically, but she’s actually a pretty vulnerable, emotional person, so that’s why that second episode happened [with the torture]. They’re just trying to break her. Joe would rather know that Cruz can’t do it versus sending her out and losing another asset like she did in the beginning of the show. Joe is in a really tough position. I think people think she’s really cold, but it’s part of her job and she’s not spending time with her children at home. In a way she has to guide Cruz and spend all that time with Cruz, and Cruz doesn’t have parents.
DEADLINE So you’re the Lioness in this situation, right?
DE OLIVEIRA: Cruz is the Lioness now. Joe was the lioness but now she’s the head of the Lioness team.
DEADLINE Your character is quite the fighter. How long did you have to prep?
DE OLIVEIRA About a month before I left to shoot, and then maybe three weeks before we started shooting. Of course, when we started shooting, the schedule was so intense that I didn’t get to train as much as I would’ve liked to, but the month that I was here in L.A. training, it was five to six days a week, one and a half hours. And then when I was on set before we started shooting, it was three hours a day, one hour of strength training, an hour of weapons training and learning the choreography because those fight scenes are really like a dance, almost.
DEADLINE Did it physically hurt to play your character?
DE OLIVEIRA It physically hurt, and it emotionally hurt, too. The physical aspect is the part that completely terrified me. I was not used to being physical like that, so everything was new to me, and I learned so much through the strength training and stunt process. My very first day was running from my boyfriend, so I ran for 14 hours straight. And then I want to say the third day we started doing the torture scene. I actually ended up really appreciating that it happened during the first week because it was the week that I had the most energy, the most adrenaline. I thought it was a good way for me to prove myself, because people didn’t really know who I was. I was definitely the new kid on the block. I mean, my first scene with Zoë was the one where she makes me cry. She comes in and I see that she’s the one torturing me. It’s this regular theme on the show. After my first take, Zoë just kind of squeezed my shoulder and said, ’10 out of 10.’ It was a really great experience. But the waterboarding? That was tough. There’s only so much of that you can fake. Of course, they’re not fully waterboarding me. They put a mouthpiece on me and I have to bite down. But there’s still water going inside your mouth and up your nose, and you can only do that about three times. The emotional part was tough too, and I think sometimes that ends up being harder, once the show is done, to shed that.
DEADLINE You are talking about the romantic relationship your character develops with Aaliyah, whose father is a terrorist that you are supposed to kill. Did you know that romantic arc was coming when you booked the role?
DE OLIVEIRA No! There were only two episodes written at the time. Taylor writes based on the people he casts, which is why I think he writes so brilliantly. He said I would have to kill her father, and that she would be the only friend I’ve ever had. So I knew it was going to be something deep. It’s such a tragic love story.
DEADLINE Do you think we’ll ever see Aaliyah again?
DE OLIVEIRA I have no idea. I really, I feel like this story can go in so many ways. What do you do when you kill someone’s father? It’s such a beautiful love. But it’s also a tragic love story.
DEADLINE We were left with Cruz wanting to quit the whole damn thing.
DE OLIVEIRA Yeah, she technically quit the whole damn thing. So I guess we’ll see where that goes. I don’t know if she could stay away forever. These are Taylor Sheridan questions. I wish I could just open his mind up and get all the answers.
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