Before Laysla De Oliveira was playing an action star in Special Ops: Lioness, she was playing the role of staff at Toronto’s Terroni restaurant. And while she’s come a long way since those days, the Canadian actress hasn’t forgotten the push her former boss gave her to pursue her acting dream. “I’m obsessed with Terroni,” De Oliveira told Narcity's Ashna Bharkhada during a recent sit-down interview for the series, which is out now on Paramount+ Canada.
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00:00I used to work at Tarot. That was my last job before I moved to LA and I still
00:04have a note from my manager that said follow your dreams and I did. The first
00:09day I met her and she hugged me and said I can't wait to work with you I couldn't
00:14let go of the hug. So people will recognize you as Dodge from Lock and Key
00:19and there's a lot of supernatural action there but with Lioness it gets really
00:24nitty-gritty. What was it like venturing into that action hero territory?
00:29It was such a dream come true to explore something in the Taylor Sheridan world.
00:35He's such a prolific writer. He wrote Cruise. He gave her so much range. She's
00:40somebody who's so tough but also so incredibly sensitive and you'll find
00:46that as the show moves along you'll see how vulnerable she is and it was a dream
00:51exploring that and exploring that with my heroes. That was awesome.
00:55Well of course. I mean you're playing alongside with Zoe Saldana, one of the
01:01best actresses around right now in Avatar, Guardians of the Galaxy. What was
01:06it like being on set with her? The first day I met her and she hugged me and said
01:11I can't wait to work with you I couldn't let go of the hug. That I just love her
01:16so much. I loved her. I've admired her my entire career and now that we've worked
01:20together I admire her even more. She's just so kind and generous. She just
01:27texted me and she was like you're doing great. She's just like my biggest
01:30supporter ever and that's not what I was... not that I didn't think she was gonna be
01:35mean but I was just like oh I just want to be in her shadow and and soak up as
01:39much as I can but she you know she helped me find my... she empowers me and I
01:46think that's such a beautiful thing and I and I take that and I hold it in my
01:51heart and I hope that I can repay that one day with someone with someone else.
01:55Did she give you any tips when you were on set? Yeah she gave me acting tips. You
01:59know you there are things like on the day-to-day that you talk or you kind of
02:03see what they're doing and and you learn but like I said most of all I was just
02:07like to really like the kindness aspect for me which is the thing that most
02:12inspired me and just how down-to-earth and genuine and chill she is. Oh that's
02:18amazing and I mean what a cast. Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman. So I love Morgan
02:25Freeman's voice. I mean there's so many videos that I've watched and he's
02:29narrated them. What's his voice like in real life? It was wild. When I met him he
02:35was like you Blake Cruz and I was like... and he's a jokester which is really fun.
02:43He's a big fan of Yellowstone so we were talking about that and it was my
02:49birthday while we were shooting and I saw him at the breakfast buffet and he's
02:52saying happy birthday to me and I was like not the Morgan Freeman voice and so
02:57that is just a memory that I'll... it's a core memory. Yeah I can I can imagine it's
03:02like just say anything to me. Yeah I can hear him speak for days for sure. You
03:08must have had some serious training going into this show. I know with Locke
03:12and Key there was a lot of green screens involved. What kind of training did you
03:16do for this movie? A lot of physical training, three hours a day, stunt
03:21training, weapons training and strength training that was obviously really
03:27important. Jerry Chaw, incredible human being. He was a Navy SEAL for nine years.
03:33He trained me and he was there with me the entire time like cheering me on and
03:37I feel really lucky to have had him and he was a great source for any military
03:43questions I had as well which was awesome. So do you know how to hold a gun now? Yes.
03:48I do. Okay so I brought my... Oh but that's a that's a pistol girl I'm doing the M4
03:56yeah. Did I bring the wrong gun? I was hoping that you could show me a couple
04:01of you know like if I want to look like a badass on screen. First of all you brought the
04:05wrong gun let's start there and second of all you got to ask Jared we should
04:09call Jared right now. FaceTime Jared. We're like Jared how do I hold this? You know the smaller ones are actually Nicole was
04:16talking to this about me because she also has a lot of experience with guns
04:20and the the pistols there there actually can be more challenging than the big
04:25ones. Once you have the big one like you know how everything works obviously it's
04:29heavy and there's a challenge in holding that and like holding it up but those
04:32smaller ones because you have to have so much more like control. Yeah so you're
04:38not gonna put it in your pocket. Maybe next season. It's so funny when I was
04:41coming in I saw a cop roll beside me and I was like pew pew. I don't know if I should be holding this. Okay so you are from I'm gonna put this
04:52away actually so you are from Toronto welcome home we're Toronto right now
04:58what is your perfect day in Toronto look like? My perfect day in Toronto I you
05:04know I was saying earlier I'm like I'm a low-key girl but then I also realize I'm
05:07in a sparkly suit so maybe I'm not as low-key as I think but in terms of like
05:11everyday stuff that I like to do I just love going to my favorite coffee shop I
05:15love Jamie's coffee I like French made because I usually stay around this area
05:18when I'm shooting it's close to the studio when I've shot here in Toronto I
05:22like going to Trinity Bellwoods I like just having a picnic there and like
05:25sitting there all day with my friends I like going to 416 snack bar that's like
05:30the usual place that I go to and just enjoying my time with friends and family
05:35I don't really mind where we are just as long as I'm with them because I miss
05:39them so much so when I'm back I try to hone into that. And I did read that you love
05:43coming to Taroni when you're in... Yes I'm yes I'm obsessed with Taroni I eat at
05:48Taroni almost I used to work at Taroni that was my last job before I moved to
05:53LA and I still have a note from my manager that said follow your dreams and
05:56I did and the pasta because I hate this so much and so in in LA yeah we I eat
06:03there quite a bit and so I know that's why I would if they asked me where to
06:07take Zoya or Nicole I'm like Taroni but they've probably been everyone goes to
06:10Taroni