National Treasure fans are getting a look at another side of America in the Disney+ series National Treasure: Edge of History.
Lisette Olivera plays Jess, an undocumented immigrant with DACA status who learns that her history has ties to a Mesoamerican mystery. Olivera and co-stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Zuri Reed, Antonio Cipriano, Jordan Rodrigues, Jake Austin Walker and Lyndon Smith recently spoke to Shadow and Act’s managing editor, Trey Mangum, about the new series.
“First and foremost, the series is a love letter in the films, but it’s done in a way to explore a different American experience,” she said. “For me, Jess is the American dream and I find her to be really special and inspiring. I could only hope that we did a good job representing her and all the Dreamers out there because they are from everywhere.”
Olivera described Jess’ life as “tough,” saying, “She tends to have a lot of limitations with being DACA and she has to keep her head down and she lives with a lot of fear, but she’s also really courageous.”
“[I]n spite all of what comes at her, all the adversity, she has the ability to move forward and really thinks with her heart as well as her mind,” she continued. “She’s brilliance, grace, she’s Miss United States.”
She also talked about what it was like to share the screen with original National Treasure stars including Harvey Keitel and Justin Bartha.
“To get to share a scene with legends…I think I just absorbed all of their processes. It’s really fascinating to see how our worlds connected with our series,” she said. “…For me, it really felt like they were passing me the torch.”
Watch the full interview as well as other interviews with the National Treasure: Edge of History cast.
National Treasure: Edge of History comes to Disney+ is streaming now.
Watch the interviews below: