Collider: This is always quite the show to process when you watch it.
GENESIS RODRIGUEZ: Were here to process it with you.
There hasnt been someone whos been able to talk to or connect with her.
She feels so alienated.
LAYSLA DE OLIVEIRA: I absolutely agree with that.
To add to that, Cruz has just been a lioness.
Image via Paramount+
Its a really intricate dynamic between Cruz, Josie, and Joe.
Im going to essentially have to terminate the lioness, and we dont want that to happen."
DE OLIVEIRA: What a journey for Cruz.
Shes just finished this mission, which she completed, and theres so much guilt there.
RODRIGUEZ: They all be manipulating Josie.
The spy thriller stars Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman.
Image via Paramount+
Shes had a total metamorphosis this season.
Shes trying to approach this season or this year of her life in a more intellectual way.
Shes grown, so thats what we explore in the new season.
It feels very apparent.
DE OLIVEIRA: Yeah.
Theres always this cloud over Cruz, especially after what shes going through in the first season.
Image via Paramount+
Im really excited for the audience to see that side of her as well.
Was that something you thought a lot about, just as your characters went on their journeys?
Did you think about how their physicality would change and how their movement would change?
And then, you see the little layers start to shed and you start seeing whats inside.
The way that we hold ourselves starts to be a little different.
DE OLIVEIRA: I think walking is so important.
Special Ops: Lioness is a Paramount+ original series starring Zoe Saldana and Nicole Kidman. The series centers on a marine and a CIA agent who work together with the daughter of a dangerous terrorist group to destroy the organization. Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone co-creator) and Jill Wagner created the series, which was directed by Paul Cameron and Anthony Byrne.
It sounds silly, but with my approach with Cruz,Cruz is so different from Laysla.
Does Sheridan’s series stick the landing in Season 2?
Ive been a dancer my whole life, so I watch fight scenes and movement from that perspective.
Its really interesting when thats used as a tool, and it really is in this show.
I think thats super helpful.
What does Josie get from Cruz that she doesnt get from Joe?
Is there something that feels empowering to her, to have someone like Cruz there?
Whereas when Joe speaks to her, its expected of her because she gave her life to her country.
Thats really the only way that you go at it.
This is someone experienced, who was a captain in the Army.
This is someone that tells people what to do.
Shes done her time.
Shes gone up the ladder.
Shes powerful in her own way.
So, being resistant and strong with her was not the way.
Her call sign is Thunder.
You hear her from a mile away.
Thats not the way to get to her heart or her mind.
Laysla, how does Cruz feel about other women being put in the same position that she was?
DE OLIVEIRA: Thats a great question.
Theres a struggle there because I think she really understands what Josie is going through.
But at the same time, the stakes are so high.
And now the mission is closer to home, so sacrifices have to be made.
And what is it like to be on the receiving end of that?
It seems like Cruz might be challenging to be friends with.
DE OLIVEIRA: Playing it is incredible.
I love playing people who are the most different from me.
The role I played before this was an evil lady to children.
I love roles that are unapologetic and different.
In terms of, whats it like being friends with Cruz?
I dont think she has that many friends.
But hopefully, maybe people can see that its really a selfless part of her.
Shes really just trying to do her job in the best way possible.
Rodriguez also talks about her role as Sloane and the final season of ‘The Umbrella Academy.’
Genesis, would Josie prefer to have Cruz sugarcoat things a little bit?
DE OLIVEIRA: I feel like nobody sugarcoats anything with her, ever, this entire show.
Except Cruz does it in subtle ways with Josie.
There are moments that she sugarcoats it with her, but there are moments where shes straight up.
I feel like thats how she gains her trust.
Nobodys telling her anything.
Joe is not preparing her for what she has to do.
Shes in the dark, the whole entire time.
She probably feels the honesty is refreshing, coming from her, and its actually working.
DE OLIVEIRA: Maybe Cruzs approach is what she wished the approach would have been with her.
Thats a great point.
But youre always gonna traumatize your kid, no matter what.
Genesis, this is all very personal for Josie.
He slaps her twice before raising a fist to her.
How hard was it to shoot that?
How do you get through shooting something like that?
RODRIGUEZ: We shot that in one day.
When I read those scenes, I thought, Woah, this is gonna be a tough day.
Truthfully, theres no way to prepare for those kinds of things.
That was a fun day of shooting.
DE OLIVEIRA: I loved it.
I was like, Cruz mode, lets go!
I was chomping at the bit to get into Cruz mode.
How do you think your characters each feel about that, by the end of this season?
Do you think they come away from the season feeling like the ends justify the means?
DE OLIVEIRA: Thats a great question.
Yeah, I think so.
There will probably always be days when you will question that in this line of work.
With this line of work, the lines can always be blurred.
Do she think that?
Ultimately, probably yes.
But do I think shell think that for the rest of her life?
Shes made of that fabric thats willing to put others before her.
Lionessis available to stream on Paramount+.
Check out the trailer:
Watch on Paramount +
