Series creators Cormac and Marianne Wibberley joined the cast of Disney+’s National Treasure: Edge of History for the show’s first San Diego Comic-Con panel, revealing new details about what’s described as a continuation of the popular National Treasure films. The 10-episode first season stars Lisette Olivera as Jess, a young DREAMer who attempts to find out more about her family by searching for a lost Pan-American treasure.
Jake Austin Walker plays Liam Sadusky, a struggling musician who comes from a long line of treasure hunters. Liam’s the son of Peter Sadusky, played by Harvey Keitel in the films, and Keitel will even show up as a special guest star in the series.
In addition to participating in the Comic-Con panel, Lisette Olivera and Jake Austin Walker teamed up for roundtable interviews to further delve into the world of National Treasure: Edge of History. Olivera and Walker discussed what fans of the films can expect from the series, the action, and whether history nerds are going to enjoy the show.
Lisette Olivera and Jake Austin Walker Interview:
How do you feel as a Latina that this show will resonate with undocumented youths who may not feel like they are being seen in the media?
Lisette Olivera: “Something I adore about Jess is that she is just this really bright young woman who has so much potential. She’s smart. She wants to make everyone feel loved. She really is just this tenacious young woman. Yes, she’s a DREAMer but that is not all she is. And I really do feel that throughout the show we get to see all these different aspects and layers of who she is underneath a paper, underneath a citizenship status that other people may not be able to see past. To be able to explore that is just an honor.”
Jake Austin Walker: “And I got to say she kills it. She kills it. She does an amazing job. She’s going to be a huge role model. It’s going to be awesome. I just had to spit that out.”
Is there a lot of action and did you have to train for that?
Lisette Olivera: “Oh, there is a lot of action, I will say.”
Jake Austin Walker: “There is a ton of action.”
Lisette Olivera: “Yeah, every episode just increasingly gets more intense as we go. And I think it kind of kicks off even after episode five…you see a good amount of action, but after that it’s like…”
Jake Austin Walker: (Looking at Lisette) “It’s very roller coaster, right?”
Lisette Olivera: “It is a very big roller coaster, for sure.”
Jake Austin Walker: “Yeah, I mean, obviously we can’t spoil too much but it’s almost like when you first get taken away [on a coaster]. When you step in you, go like, ‘Whoa!’ right? That’s like the first bit. And then it’s just this (demonstrating with his hand going up on a rollercoaster). And then once it hits, it’s like oh my gosh. It really, really doesn’t stop.
And I just remember we’d get the scripts and we’d just go, ‘Oh, okay, we’re going here.’ (Pretending to flip through a script) ‘Oh my gosh…oh my gosh!’ It just didn’t stop. It was crazy.”
Lisette Olivera: “We didn’t really train for it, but we had good people on our team taking care of us while we were filming making sure that we didn’t get hurt or anything.”
Jake Austin Walker: “Oh yeah, our stunt department was insane. Russell (Towery) was amazing. Yeah, it was a blast. I think the audience too…I would even go as far as to say our action sometimes parallels the films or sometimes even goes a little above. I don’t know – I can’t give away too much.”
Lisette Olivera: “That’s true. A little above the action.”
On a scale of 1-10 how much do you think the show is going to cater to history nerds?
Lisette Olivera: “I would say, especially if you were interested in a different type of history like with the indigenous people that was never told authentically… For me, growing up I never heard the truth about my indigenous culture. I never really understood it because it just was never really told in history books, you know? So, I think like now to be able to have the exposure, especially on a show this scale and for the people that are the creators that are honoring it, it really is going to make people think, ‘Oh my god, yes! That’s exactly what happened. When Cortes came over and the indigenous women and men were there originally, you know they were the founders of this land that they called the United States.’ So, it is great.”
Jake Austin Walker: “And also, we had, my goodness the writers would talk to actual history professors. We had professionals on this. This is no, like, ‘Oh, let’s just say this happened.’ No, no, no, no. Like, there are so many people that cleared it and checked. I mean, we do not just mess around. We dive into the true history of so much.”
Lisette Olivera: Like Cortes and Malinche and a lot of other historical icons.”
Jake Austin Walker: “If you’re a history nerd, you will get a full cup – that’s for sure.”
As you continue to delve into these characters is there anything you were surprised to learn about yourselves?
Jake Austin Walker: “We were kind of talking about this earlier. Liam Sadusky, he’s a descendent of Peter Sadusky from the original films and he’s a prime example of how treasure hunting – because we kind of really make it look pretty in the movies and it’s cool and it’s action-packed, and we don’t hang too long on the severity. And I think what’s interesting about Liam’s character is they show the real impact of loss that could happen from journeying in this lifestyle.
He wants nothing to do with it, right? His emotional escape is kind of in music because he closes himself off to a lot of people because people he was really close to are just not part of his life anymore. I think he was such an emotionally guarded character that when Jess comes into his life, she kind of pulls him out of that.
I think where I parallel with the character is I normally keep a lot of myself in. Liam and this journey and this amazing cast have kind of helped me be more expressive as myself as well. At least that’s a lot of what the show has done for me, you know.”
Lisette Olivera: “Yeah, I would say I grew into myself as well. Jess, because of her citizen status, she’s programmed to stay under the radar. To not make yourself loud, to not speak your truth, I think for the most part. But for her, with her family, she’s always felt safe so now this adventure takes her outside of her family and having to figure out whether she’s willing to risk it all or not. I think that is part of like the wish fulfillment. Like, you don’t know what are the stakes. Are they worth it and will I go for it? I think she was growing into herself and the confidence that she has to do this, and that’s kind of what I felt like because of what this job entailed.”
How long after the movies is the series set?
Lisette Olivera: “About 20 years.”
Jake Austin Walker: “Yeah. As far as the timeline goes, the first two movies were based during that time when they came out and ours is 20 [years later].”
With the pandemic, how did you develop the chemistry and work on the relationships between your characters?
Lisette Olivera: “Oh my gosh, that’s so funny because we all got cast on Zoom. So, we had to do these chemistry reads through Zoom and build a relationship off of there. I don’t know if we just got really lucky, but as soon as all of us met, we hit it off.”
Jake Austin Walker: “Yeah, I’ve really got to give it to Jerry (Bruckheimer) and the Wibberlys and Veronica (Collins Rooney). It was just everyone. Just the casting process and putting us all together – it wasn’t difficult. I’ve been very blessed to be a part of some amazing casts, but you know I’m biased but this is my family. And I think it kind of happened immediately. We had a group chat going. We were arguing about who was going to be the first one to start it.
[…] But it was Lisette and I and Zuri who were cast first. We were the first round and then we finally got…”
Lisette Olivera: “…and then Antonio joined and then Jordan joined, and then everyone trickled in from there. And yeah, it’s just such a pleasure to get to work with people that are so talented and just so their characters as well. It was awesome.”
Jake Austin Walker: “And it shows in the show. It’s pretty insane. I mean, all these people are supposed to know each other for so long, except Liam. He eventually comes into the group. But their friendship on and off camera, it’s not lost on anyone. I think the audience the minute they see them interacting are going to get infected with how much fun they have.”
What was your biggest takeaway from this experience?
Jake Austin Walker: “That if you don’t give up on what you believe in…this is obviously a tough job and Liam is a character I’ve always wanted to see myself as, but I’ve just always hoped I would get the opportunity and never knew it would happen. So, this has kind of showed me – to be honest I know on paper it sounds kind of corny – but don’t let go of your dreams. Because I feel like with this cast and the showrunners and the people and with Disney and just everyone, it is a dream situation. That’s really what this has shown me.”
Lisette Olivera: “And I’m really proud of all of us for what we have done. For me, playing this part, I just could only hope that my grandparents and my parents are proud. That’s the one thing is I hope when they watch it, and even other Latinas I hope when they watch it, they are proud.”
- Interview with Antonio Cipriano and Zuri Reed
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