The 34-year-old Canadian has spent a good amount of time in Cowtown over the last few years filming \u201cLioness\u201d seasons 2 and 3.<\/a> She plays Cruz, a marine and the titular \u201cLioness\u201d in season 1, in the Paramount+ spy series.<\/p>\n Oliveira found her Fort Worth experience to be eye-opening.<\/p>\n \u201cFort Worth exposed me to so many things I had never been exposed to, and now I look forward to being there and going whenever I can,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac In case you missed it: <\/p>\n Oliveira recently spoke to the Star-Telegram for \u201cLioness\u201d season 3, episode 7,<\/a> which released on Sunday, Sept. 13.<\/p>\n The conversation ranged from how they make the show to what her experience in Fort Worth has been like. There are spoilers for \u201cLioness\u201d through episode 7, so it\u2019s best to be caught up before diving in.<\/p>\n This interview has been edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n Star-Telegram: We\u2019re three seasons into \u201cLioness.\u201d What still excites you about this show and makes you ready to come to work?<\/p>\n Laysla De Oliveira: What makes me ready to come to work? Probably that I know Taylor\u2019s [Sheridan] going to make me look really cool [laughs], and that I\u2019m going to get to spend time with the QRF (quick reaction force team), they\u2019re like my family. And also work with people I\u2019ve idolized my whole life, and know that it\u2019ll be a good script. That\u2019s what makes me come to work every day. I feel lucky.<\/p>\n S-T: Before we get into episode 7, I want to ask you about a scene towards the end of episode 6. It\u2019s when Cruz and the QRF are waiting on a helicopter for word about Joe. Cruz has this moment of desperation, where she\u2019s asking for just one chance to bring her home. I thought it was a good scene to show that while these are highly trained individuals, they\u2019re also human beings. What was it like to have a scene like that?<\/p>\n LDO: I was so happy that Taylor wrote that for Cruz. I think it was time this season for her to really show her heart. We got little glimpses of how she might be feeling, but this was the moment we really get to see the evolution of her relationship with Joe. We\u2019ve come such a long way, and when I read that line, I actually got emotional. Got emotional for my girl. I called Taylor and he agreed. It\u2019s a deep, deep line. It\u2019s how Cruz feels about her whole arc of the whole thing, and I think in a lot of ways that\u2019s how you know Laysla probably feels as well about perhaps the show. As hard as it is.<\/p>\n I was really excited for the audience to really hear from Cruz what she\u2019s feeling, and that is that she does love Joe. She is starting to see that they\u2019re family, that Joe gave her a family, gave her purpose. Although they may not always agree like family, they\u2019ll always have each other\u2019s back. They\u2019ll always come save each other, or try to at least, in hard times.<\/p>\n S-T: I feel like Joe is this motherly figure for the whole team. A lot of this season feels like mom is gone and the kids are mad.<\/p>\n LDO: And Cruz didn\u2019t have a family. The thing that Cruz has always wanted is just love, I think. To feel loved, to have purpose. We\u2019re really starting to set up a stage for that in season 3, and hopefully, if we do get a season 4, we get to explore that in a little more depth.<\/p>\n S-T: Joe\u2019s rescue in episode 7 is very exciting. You have this firefight on the road that moves to a soccer field and then Cruz and the QRF come down in a helicopter to finish the job. It\u2019s one of those scenes where I question how you guys did any of that. How did you?<\/p>\n LDO: Oh, I can tell you. Generally, when I\u2019ve shot scenes with just me and Genesis [Rodriguez] on the helicopter, we have gone up before. But this time around, there are so many of us, and we\u2019re also sitting at the edge of the helicopter, so that\u2019s a safety issue. We obviously can\u2019t, the actors can\u2019t go up, stunts can. What they did is they created a gimbal. I don\u2019t know if you know what that is. It\u2019s on stage. They got the helicopter and they built this really long thing, so the helicopter could sit up top, and they moved it like a roller coaster. We had to strap ourselves onto the edge of the helicopter and shoot guns. Here\u2019s the thing about me: I hate roller coasters, and it really felt like you were going to fall off.<\/p>\n We were very, very high up. I remember doing it a couple of times, and Jill [Wagner]<\/a> beside me, was laughing at me the whole time because I really had a moment where I said, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Cruz looks cool doing everything because this is second nature to her, but it\u2019s not necessarily second nature to Laysla, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m going to be able to do this scene. I really had to take a breather at lunchtime and lock the eff in, so I could face some fears and show up for my girl Cruz.<\/p>\n Then I watched it, and was like, \u201cWow, I don\u2019t look scared at all.\u201d It just took a couple of tries, but it was actually really fun. It ended up being really fun, but I was definitely a little bit nervous at first. We do that for when we\u2019re up in the air, and then we pick it up on the actual field, just hopping off the helicopter. Then they piece it all together.<\/p>\n S-T: Right after that, the helicopter lands and Cruz and Bobby run to Joe. There\u2019s the big emotional relief that you can feel in Zoe\u2019s performance. Is that a scene you guys want to overtly rehearse, or is it better to just go for it and capture the raw emotion?<\/p>\n LDO: We don\u2019t really rehearse any scenes on \u201cLioness.\u201d We did season 1, and I think that was mostly because Taylor was so far away. We were shooting in Baltimore and he wanted to make sure that everything was going according to plan, and also it was a new show. But, well, that\u2019s not true. We rehearsed the action sequences, but when it comes to those kind of like raw scenes, scenes with birds, we really do find it on the day.<\/p>\n I think with emotional scenes too, you don\u2019t want to overdo it. You kind of want everything to be a surprise and have those real feelings bubble up. That is just the talent and power of Zoe Salda\u00f1a [laughs] and her peers that came to save her. Also, I think we have a lot of history to pull from, which we didn\u2019t have in season 1. We have a lot of spent time together. We have a lot of chemistry, so I think that really helps with our scenes. The more seasons we get.<\/p>\n S-T: I want to ask you about Fort Worth. You\u2019ve made the last two seasons of the show here. Generally, what\u2019s your experience been living and working in Fort Worth?<\/p>\n LDO: I love Fort Worth. It was a big surprise for me because I\u2019m Canadian and I\u2019m actually a big city girl. Like I grew up in the city, so I wasn\u2019t really sure how it would feel. I just love it. Everyone is so nice. The food is amazing. There\u2019s this calmness to it too, that I just really enjoy experiencing, especially when I\u2019m working on such an explosive show. I got really into country music while I\u2019ve been there. Fort Worth exposed me to so many things I had never been exposed to, and now I look forward to being there and going whenever I can.<\/p>\n The only note that I would say is that the summers are too hot. That\u2019s my only problem with Fort Worth. Truly, is the summers. Everything else is a 10 out of 10. But the thing that I was most blown away by truly were the people. They\u2019re some of the kindest people that I\u2019ve met.<\/p>\n S-T: I\u2019ve lived here for 30 years and I\u2019m still not used to the heat.<\/p>\n LDO: We shot season 2 in the summer, and I thought we were gonna die.<\/p>\n S-T: You mentioned some spots around Fort Worth. Do you have any favorites that you return to?<\/p>\n LDO: Hell yes. My favorite restaurant is Chumley House<\/a>. I actually discovered it pretty late. We discovered it probably at the end of season 3, I don\u2019t know why. But of course we go to the Bowie [House] hotel a lot and the [Hotel] Drover. The Stockyards whenever we can. I didn\u2019t really go out that much season 3 as I did season 2, but I love to eat, so that\u2019s where you\u2019ll usually find me.<\/p>\n Cherry Coffee<\/a> is really great. What was the other? I went to an Italian restaurant there that I really liked. That had just opened. I\u2019m trying to remember the name, but it\u2019s escaping me. Great, great places to eat there. Shoutout B&B\u2019s [Butchers]<\/a>. I\u2019m scared to say because if we go back, I don\u2019t want to give away our spots. But those are the places we go to. B&B is, I think, a \u201cLioness\u201d favorite because they serve a lot of protein there [laughs].<\/p>\n \u201cLioness\u201d airs Sundays on Paramount+.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n![\"L-R:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Lioness_303_EM_1103_00015_RT_f.jpg\" "\\"Lioness_303_EM_1103_00015_RT_f.jpg\\"")
L-R: Zoe Salda\u00f1a as Joe, Thad Luckinbill as Kyle, Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz in \u201cLioness,\u201d episode 3, season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Emerson Miller Paramount+ <\/p>\n![\"L-R:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Lioness_308_RG_0225_0320_RT_f.jpg\" "\\"Lioness_308_RG_0225_0320_RT_f.jpg\\"")
L-R: Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz and Genesis Rodriguez as Josie in \u201cLioness,\u201d episode 8, season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Ryan Green Paramount+ <\/p>\n![\"L-R:](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Lioness_304_LS_0109_0536_RT_f.jpg\" "\\"Lioness_304_LS_0109_0536_RT_f.jpg\\"")
L-R: Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz and LaMonica Garrett as Tucker in \u201cLioness,\u201d episode 4, season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Lauren Smith Paramount+ <\/p>\n
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