When Lyndon Smith auditioned for FBI Agent Ross in Disney+’s new series National Treasure: Edge of History, she wasn’t sure she scored the role, as she didn’t get a call back until one month later.
“I was like, ‘oh, National Treasure, they’re making a series‘ — and I actually hadn’t seen the films. I was the one person who hadn’t seen them, but I knew what it was. I thought, ‘This has a built-in fanbase who wanted a third movie, but it didn’t come to fruition. Now, 15 years later, it is a series! I did a tape, but I didn’t hear anything from it, which is kind of unusual. I kind of let it pass my radar, but I met with Cormac & Marianne Wibberley, who are executive producers on the show, and I loved them,” the actress exclusively tells GRAZIA USA.
Fortunately, Smith was chosen to be part of the series, which meant she had to watch both movies. “I was like, ‘Wow these hold up.’ They’re still so delightful. I love how multi-generational they are — kids, parents and grandparents love them. I learned things that I never knew! When they said they were going to develop it into a TV show, it was so cool to throw my hat in the ring. It was a long journey to get the part but making it was an absolute dream,” she shares.
In the new Disney+ show, which dropped on December 14, a young woman named Jess (Lisette Olivera) sets to find out an ancient treasure with mystery ties to her family’s past. (Nicholas Cage played the character of Benjamin Franklin Gates in the first two movies — released in 2004 and 2007 — which focused on him trying to steal the Declaration of Independence as it may contain a clue to a treasure.)
The brunette beauty is looking forward to viewers getting more familiarized with these characters. “The audience gets super invested with each of the treasure hunters and also gets to figure out the scavenger hunt in real time. Every week there’s a new clue or plot twist,” Smith says. “It’s more modernized, too. There’s different technology and the cast comes together where everybody brings something different to the hunt.
One of the many reasons Smith fell in love with the role of Agent Ross, a young investigator who was at the top of her class at Quantico and given a top assignment in D.C., is because she’s “a real direct extension of myself,” she notes. “She’s very focused and goal oriented. She got this amazing assignment but she made a mistake and is reassigned to the Baton Rouge field office. She’s now in a position to rebuild her professional reputation.”
Agent Ross tries to prove herself by uncovering the truth about Jess and her mysterious connection to the treasure. “She has her boss telling her to squash the story, but she thinks it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission and just does it anyway,” she shares. “That is something my mom used to tell me when I was a kid. I felt like a direct kindred spirit with her. I didn’t have to do much work to prep. I did some weapons training, so I felt comfortable with the action series. I also researched what type of educational background you might need to be an FBI agent. Agent Ross is an incredibly fleshed out, strong, intelligent, well-rounded female character. Everything was right there on the page. The show has a lot of strong female-centric characters.”
Something Smith will never forget is working alongside Catherine Zeta-Jones, who plays Billie, a badass billionaire, black-market antiquities expert. “Agent Ross and Billie play this cat and mouse game for a while. Agent Ross is watching her from afar for the first few episodes, so I didn’t get to meet Catherine until we’d been shooting for probably two months,” she notes. “When she walked on the set, she has this capability to suck the air out of the room. It’s like, ‘Catherine’s here!’ She’s so magnetic and has such an amazing personality. She immediately came up to me and said, ‘Honey, we finally meet’ and gave me this bug hug. She’s so warm.”
Zeta-Jones was so warm that Smith calls her a “generous scene partner.”
“Catherine was so generous with her time — and that was a big takeaway for me,” she gushes. “It doesn’t matter how famous you are — and she’s a national treasure herself — she leads with beauty and grace and that’s something I will take with me if I’m ever privileged enough to be in her position one day. She was great to work with, and she’s been fun to hang out with while doing press. She’s really cool.”
“I was taking notes on her while working with her and one of the things that stood out to me is that she takes her time in a scene,” she adds. “Sometimes younger actors want to rush through and get the words out, but it’s those moments when somebody is studying something and actively thinking about something and really living and breathing in a scene — that’s when they have that vacuum effect. I watched Catherine do that. She sits back and thinks and listens. There’s nothing about that feels rushed. She doesn’t feel the need to hurry.”
From a young age, Smith always knew acting was in his future, and though she’s been part of other projects that “moved the needle,” she feels like she hit the jackpot with this current role. “When National Treasure: Edge of History first came into my inbox, I was like, ‘That has the potential for career longevity.’ This is something that could keep going. I’m so excited and humbled to be a part of it. I hope it lasts for a long time,” she says. “It’s a fun ride.”
National Treasure: Edge of History is now streaming on Disney+.
