'Special Ops: Lioness' star Laysla De Oliveira stresses military thriller isn't about 'men versus women'

Canadian star Laysla De Oliveira (Locke & Key) leads us through Special Ops: Lioness on Paramount+, a high-stakes and heated military thriller series from Taylor Sheridan (co-creator of Yellowstone), with a star-studded cast including Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman.

The series is based on the real Lioness program, a group of women who are part of the Marines on-the-ground military efforts, most often referenced as being able to conduct searches of women in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Special Ops: Lioness De Oliveira plays Cruz, a woman who escapes a frightening abusive relationship in by, literally, crashing through the door of a recruitment office for the Marines. As Cruz starts her training, it's clear that she is stronger, faster and smarter than her fellow recruits, both men and women, and her skills lead her to meeting Joe (Saldaña). Joe is recruiting women to infiltrate terrorist groups through the women in the lives of "high-value targets."

But when Cruz executes her task to befriend the daughter of one of these targets, things take a very dangerous turn.

'It's not about men versus women'

For De Oliveira, born and raised in Toronto, being able to work on one of Sheridan's projects really excited her about being part of Special Ops: Lioness.

"Taylor Sheridan is such a prolific writer, he writes these incredible powerhouse women, and when it comes to Cruz, he wrote her so beautifully," De Oliveira told Yahoo Canada in an interview in Toronto. "She's someone who's very tough on the interior, the ultimate bad-ss, if you will, but incredibly vulnerable and soft."

"So playing that range, I think, is an incredible challenge and it was something that was so artistically fulfilling to do."

Special Ops: Lioness is quite quick to get to the action, but the physical aspect of Cruz is what made De Oliveira "most nervous," having to go through hours of training a day.

"The thing with that kind of stuff is, if you just show up to class, you show up every day, it'll show up for you," she explained. "It was such a great journey with that and Cruz really taught me how strong I am."

While many are always quick to describe women as "strong" or "tough," when it comes to how Sheridan crafted the women in his story, De Oliveira highlighted that it's really about showing the different ways in which people, particularly women, can show strength.

"What I mean by strong is not being a stereotype, or not being used to just guide somebody else's story, usually a man's story," De Oliveira said. "What I love about our show is, yes, these women are physically strong, they're also emotionally strong and they're also incredibly vulnerable, which is strong as well, being able to go there."

"What I also like about the show is, even though you have three powerhouse females and other incredible, strong women in the show, it's not about men versus women. It's about working together and I think that's how it should be."

But with a character like Cruz, who has experienced significant trauma in her life, being able to walk away and put aside such a complex character was also a challenge for the actor.

"This is my first go-around of doing something so emotionally and physically demanding for this period of time," De Oliveira said. "I've done films where they've been emotionally demanding, but when you're in it for seven months, it's so interesting because you start needing to do less to get into the character."

"But the other side of that is you start having to do more to separate from it. ... It's also incredibly artistically fulfilling that you feel like, 'hey, this character is really coming to life.' I hope that this will take somebody on a journey. I think that's the beautiful thing about acting is that you're able to manifest these emotions and feelings, and become someone so that somebody can escape, relate, connect in any which way."

Laysla De Oliveira 'immediately started sobbing' at Toronto premiere

On July 11, De Oliveira got to share the first episode of Special Ops: Lioness in her hometown of Toronto on the big screen at the city's TIFF Bell Lightbox, with her family by her side. The actor shared that the experience brought her to tears.

"I had seen the show, but I hadn't seen the opening credits, and so I immediately started sobbing," De Oliveira said. "My mom looked at me and she was like, 'I will not be able to watch this thing if you're crying the whole time.'"

"I finally got it together, she was squeezing my hand the whole time, it was really magical. Seeing it on a big screen with my family, just being able to share it with the ones you love, and being able to celebrate such a milestone moment in the city you were born in is an incredible feeling."

Reflecting on what she's been able to achieve as a Canadian actor, now having a lead role in a TV series with some of Hollywood's biggest stars, De Oliveira said she's "still processing" this reality, but has "nothing but gratitude" for the opportunity.

"I'm really grateful for the people that chose me for this part, Taylor Sheridan, the people who empowered me while shooting, Morgan [Freeman], Nicole [Kidman] and Zoe [Saldaña]," she said.

"I'm also really thankful for the people who came before me, like Rachel McAdams. That's someone I've also really admired my entire career. So it's really nice to hopefully have a similar trajectory."

Interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.