Laysla De Oliveira says her Lioness character Cruz has undergone a profound transformation since the series began, evolving from a young woman struggling to find her place into a seasoned operative who now understands the gray areas of her world. In an interview about the show's third season, the actress explained that the biggest shift for Cruz between the first and current seasons is her grasp of the system she operates within.
«She is not so sporadic, and I think Cruz really saw things as black and white, and she just understands the gray a little bit more,» De Oliveira said. That emotional maturity has reshaped Cruz's relationship with Joe, the team leader played by Zoe Saldaña. According to De Oliveira, the two women are now far more aligned than they were when they first met, bound by mutual sacrifice and a shared sense of purpose.
«Her relationship with Joe has certainly evolved. You see that there's love and care there, especially with the line, 'she made me,'» De Oliveira said. «And so I think Cruz is becoming just more of an adult, and also, perhaps, maybe a super spy, and evolving into, I think, what her calling has potentially always been.»
The depth of Cruz's feelings for Joe came to the forefront during a pivotal moment in the sixth episode of the season, when teammate Bobby recognized that Cruz was too emotionally compromised for the mission to rescue Joe. For De Oliveira, that scene was an opportunity to reveal just how much Joe means to her character.
«I think in that moment, Cruz is realizing, or she's already realized it with Joe being gone, but she's expressing it for the first time, how deep her feelings are for Joe,» she explained. «Joe brought her into the Lioness program, and as challenging as that was that first season, it gave Cruz purpose in life and family. And not only that, Joe risked everything to save her and Josie's lives at the end of Season 2.»
De Oliveira also pushed back against the idea that Cruz is defined solely by the show's relentless action. She described the character as a «wild cat with a heart of gold,» a phrase she attributed to series creator Taylor Sheridan, and said that softness is central to understanding who Cruz really is.
«Regardless of the pain that she's been through, that it's really about her heart,» De Oliveira said. «And Cruz is a lover, and she does love Joe, and she does love the team, and I think, ultimately, she does really want to be there, and so that's what that moment is.»
That love becomes even more significant as the season progresses, with Cruz playing a major role in the mission to save her mentor. De Oliveira praised her dynamic with Saldaña and expressed hope for more opportunities to explore their relationship on screen.
«I love every scene that Cruz and Joe have together. I feel like Zoe and I have really great chemistry, and I hope that we get to explore that a little bit more,» she said.
The relationship now has a clear symmetry: Joe saved Cruz at the end of Season 2, and Cruz helps save Joe in Season 3. De Oliveira sees that reciprocity as the foundation of the team's strength.
«Joe saved her at the end of Season 2, and now Cruz helps save Joe, so they're constantly having each other's back,» she said. «And I think that's what makes the team so strong, is that there's that family bond there, and that depth of life, and being there for each other, and working together, and knowing what those sacrifices are.»
She added that the shared understanding between Cruz and Joe marks a significant change from earlier in the series. «Cruz and Joe, at this moment, are definitely more aligned,» De Oliveira said. «And more of a reflection of each other. There's more understanding there.»
According to the actress, both characters feel a sense of debt to one another, a theme that recurs throughout the season. «Joe feels like she owes Cruz, and Cruz feels like she owes Joe, but it's something that's said in the season a lot,» she noted.
De Oliveira pointed to the constantly shifting relationships at the heart of Lioness as one of the show's most compelling qualities, citing Cruz's dynamic with Cody as another example of how the series explores loyalty, sacrifice, and personal growth within a high-stakes military setting.