‘Lioness’ Star Laysla De Oliveira on Why Cruz Is Finally Sold on Spy Life

At the start of Lioness, Cruz Manuelos (Laysla De Oliveira) was not exactly thrilled to be pulled from Marine detail for the titular CIA task force by Joe (Zoe Saldaña). So, after the events of Season 1’s finale — which saw her forced to betray her first true love, Aaliyah Amrohi (Stephanie Nur) — she was even less enthusiastic about being brought back into the fold for Season 2 to shadow then-newcomer Josie Carrillo (Genesis Rodriguez) on Joe’s orders.

Now, though, Cruz is a lot more content in her detail. The fact that she’s in a serious romantic relationship with Josie doesn’t hurt, of course, but according to the actress portraying her, Cruz’s newfound comfort with the QRF isn’t just about who she gets to go home to.

Reflecting on a recent Season 3 scene in which Cruz got to witness, firsthand, the unique interrogation techniques of colleague Kyle McManus (Thad Luckinbill) in sussing out the Ukrainian double agent, Laysla De Oliveira said her character’s claim that she’s not interested in spy business was a bit of a ruse.

“I think she wants to think that she’s not a part of the life, but I also think that deep down she knows that she might be, especially with their banter at the end, when he says something like… ‘But you’re still doing it, though,'” the actress told TV Insider. “She smiles and laughs. I think she knows she is.”

Lauren “Lo” Smith / Paramount+

Oliveira continued, “Even her first time at the CIA headquarters, I think that was such a beautiful moment for her, where Michael Kelly‘s character [Deputy Director Byron Westfield] wants to hear her opinion, and she has one. She always has an opinion. She’s always thinking. I think she’s really smart. I think Joe also really wants to know her opinion. So, I think deep down she knows that this is her calling, whether it’s hard for her to accept or not. She’s humble-ish.”

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It’s a very good thing that Cruz has warmed to the rigors of this unique gig, of course, because as the end of last week’s episode showed, she and Josie are doing some hot honeypotting, and she’s quite convincing at it already.

“I feel like there’s a big time jump and shift, and so this is a moment we get to really see her be able to do her job well. Even though the stakes are high because of what we’re trying to do, I feel like in that moment in the club, it is probably not as high as her as infiltrating somebody who she was in love with… Even Bobby’s [Jill Wagner] character goes, ‘This is small potatoes, boss.’ Yeah, it’s small potatoes for her. She’s there with her girlfriend. She gets to make out with this beautiful woman, have a good time. Why not?!”

We’ll see how this mini-mission plays out on Sunday’s (August 30) new episode of Lioness.

Lioness, Sundays, Paramount+