Rising star Lisette Olivera steps into a big pair of treasure-hunting shoes with her very first lead role in a show. She's taking the torch from Nicolas Cage’s Ben Gates in producer Jerry Bruckheimer’s highly-anticipated Disney+ series, National Treasure: Edge of History.

The cherished franchise’s continuation upholds the timeless quality of the original films while welcoming a new generation of fans via characters like Olivera's Jess Valenzuela, the show's ambitious protagonist with a knack for solving puzzles. When Harvey Keitel’s Peter Sadusky returns to jump-start a new quest, Jess and her friends set out to locate an ancient treasure with possible ties to her family. The thrill of tracking down clues and solving mysteries is hindered, however, by Catherine Zeta-Jones’ Billie Pearce, a black market antiquities dealer who’s after the treasure for her own mysterious reasons.

With National Treasure: Edge of History in the midst of its Season 1 run on Disney+, Olivera took a moment to chat with Collider’s Perri Nemiroff about her experience leading her very first series. During the interview, she discussed how she put her heart into her character and opened up about tough days on set. She also touched on her collaboration with Zeta-Jones and her love of Jim Carrey films. You can catch all of this and more in the video above or in the transcript below.

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Image via Disney+

PERRI NEMIROFF: It's a pretty big deal to lead your very first TV series! What is the best piece of advice you got jumping into headlining a super high-profile Disney show, but then also, having been through it now, what piece of advice would you give to someone else out there about to do the same thing?

LISETTE OLIVERA: The best piece of advice I got in the beginning, I think it was the ability to make the character my own. It gave me a lot to branch out into, and it was the [Cormac and Marianne] Wibberley that I thank a lot [for that]. They created the character Jess Valenzuela, but they also allowed me the liberty to give my perspective on certain scenes and they were always really receptive [to] it. And so I think for them, the advice that they gave was, because I put my heart into it, they knew how much I cared, that they respected the process in that way too and encouraged it, and I'm really grateful for that.

And then I'd also say now, looking back at it, I'd give Lisette the piece of advice that everything's gonna be okay, you know? I always live by the idea that you never know if there is gonna be a tomorrow so make the most of today. And I think, in this instance, there are many, many days of filming within those seven months, and in that time, I grew a lot as a person, similar to how Jess grew as a character. So I think, just take it day by day, Lisette, everything will be okay. [Laughs]

I like that approach to everything in life! Going back to what you just brought up in terms of your influence on the character; is there anything specific that our viewers can look out for that is purely your own? Something that wasn't on the page to begin with that you're really proud of and hope people take notice of?

OLIVERA: One moment that I'm really proud of, in general, in Episode 3, there was a seven-page monologue that my character does. In the scene, she's translating for her for -- this is a spoiler, I'm so sorry. [Laughs] She's translating for somebody. For me as an artist, it was really difficult to have to stay in the mindset of sticking to the dialogue, but also imagining on the scene what I was seeing, because my character was watching something very special and true to her and her story. I was kind of multitasking in that way. And I think, for me, I have a really strong connection with my family, so I added a lot of those elements of how much she cares about the treasure because of that. So it was a lot of my own heart in one particular scene.

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Image via Disney+

I was watching the interview that you did with my colleague at Comic-Con, and you were talking about Catherine Zeta-Jones. You brought up how, even on your hardest days, she was always there to welcome you with open arms, so that was making me wonder, can you give us an example of a hard day on set and maybe tell us what made it hard and how you overcame that challenge?

OLIVERA: Absolutely. The film process was just taxing, in general, just because it was really long shoot days, and most of the days we were out in the elements of the world, so there was a lot of heat and stress, and TV works and functions really quickly, and you have to keep up with the pace of things. I don't know, I woke up one morning and I was feeling a little bit off and I remember Catherine just asked me, "Sweetheart, are you okay?" And I completely just could not stop crying. I was like, "I'm okay. Yeah, I'm okay."

But she actually reminded me, she's like, "You care and that's what makes you good." And she's like, "And I see you, and you don't have to rush for anybody. You can take your time. It's really important that you feel strong within yourself, and that you allow yourself the space to take a breath because, at the end of the day, we love what we do." I think that was really special of her to say because it helped me pick myself right back up. She did it in her Catherine fashion, which I appreciate and love her for. It was a really eye-opening experience and a great piece of advice from her.

Alright, I have a game for you now. It's a "Would you Rather" game. I've got some fairly silly questions here. I'm going to start off with my favorite one; would you rather have to fake sneeze or fake vomit in a scene?

OLIVERA: [Laughs] I would probably fake vomit, maybe? I grew up watching Jim Carrey and he's really good at fake gagging, and I think when I was younger, I was always like, "How does he do that?" And I'd start practicing. That's so crazy, but yeah, I feel like maybe that would be my choice.

I have to ask now, what's the go-to Jim Carrey movie?

OLIVERA: The Mask. Oh wait, but there are so many! Fun With Dick and Jane. I'm a huge fan of his. I actually just barely watched The Truman Show. I know I'm so far behind on that, but he was so brilliant in that film and it definitely is one of my favorite movies now.

All excellent choices. Please tell me you've seen Liar Liar though.

OLIVERA: Of course I have. 1000%!

Had to make sure! Here's another silly one. Would you rather have to eat a lot in a scene or run a lot in a scene?

OLIVERA: I've heard horror stories of people having to eat consistently in a scene and then getting so sick from it. From my prior training, throughout the season of how much I had to run, I'd say run a lot. I've done it once before, let's do it again.

Agent Peter Sadusky and Jess in National Treasure: Edge of History
Image via Disney+

There's a scene early on in the season where there's a pizza involved and I kept thinking if I was anywhere near that pizza and I was acting, I'd be totally screwed because I would eat every slice.

OLIVERA: No, but listen, it looks delicious, but in reality, it's cold, it's soggy, it's been sitting there all day. You do not want to eat it!

Would you rather work opposite someone who improvises nonstop or work opposite someone who sticks to the script and never veers from it?

OLIVERA: Honestly, maybe someone who sticks to the script. Sticks to the script, but acts on the script. So I'm leaning towards both. I hope that's an acceptable answer.

That's actually a really great way of cheating that question because, technically, they're still sticking to the script, but they're giving a different feel or interpretation.

OLIVERA: Precisely! Yes!

Would you rather play the killer in a horror movie or get a really gnarly death scene?

OLIVERA: Oh my gosh. I think I'd have a really gnarly death scene. I've worked on a horror movie before ...

Oh! The name is not coming to me. Pat Healy's in it, and it's great. It's called Something ...

OLIVERA: We Need To Do Something, yeah! That was my first film job ever. But it was really a great experience to get to see how horror functions. It's an art form in itself I really respect. To be hooked up to bloody machines, it's a long process. Mad respect to people who horror is their genre. It was a lot of fun, so let's do it again!

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Image via Disney+

I have to wrap with you, so one last question. It's not a would you rather question. Obviously stealing is bad, we don't steal, but let's say there was one historical artifact out there that would tempt you to go in and take it, what would it be?

OLIVERA: During the process of learning the history that we talk about on the show, I had learned that a lot of Mexico's artifacts are either lost or they're somewhere in Europe. So I think it would be really cool to be able to retrieve some of those artifacts, like Montezuma's feathers that I think Europe has right now. Yeah, it would be really cool to do that.

Back-pocket that for future seasons!

OLIVERA: Right? I’m like, Season 2? It sounds very Jess-like!

National Treasure: Edge of History is streaming exclusively on Disney+ with new episodes dropping every Wednesday. If you'd like to keep the treasure hunt going, check out Perri's interview with producer Jerry Bruckheimer below: