National Treasure: Edge of History builds on the National Treasure feature film franchise starring Nicolas Cage, but with a youthful twist. The TV series centers on Jess, a puzzle-solving adolescent with a knack for getting in and out of trouble. When Jess stumbles across a piece of information hinting at a lost treasure that is possibly linked to her family, she enlists her close circle of friends -- Tasha, Oren, Ethan, and newcomer Liam -- to help decipher a series of clues located in American artifacts and landmarks. FBI Agent Ross gets sucked into the hunting mayhem after doing her own bit of sleuthing, but hot on their heels is Billie Pearce, a ruthless black market antiquities dealer seeking to get her hands on the treasure.
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Zuri Reed, who stars as social media-obsessed Tasha, and Lyndon Smith, who portrays the by-the-books Agent Ross, recently spoke with CBR ahead of the series premiere on Disney+. The pair dove into expanding the National Treasure franchise and spoke about Tasha's strengths and Ross' own investigation.
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CBR: What's it been like stepping into this world that Nicolas Cage created in the National Treasure films?
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Lyndon Smith: It's daunting. He ushered in a very beloved franchise. To pick up that mantle, it's not without pressure. I think what we have done is create a show where we are not trying to reboot this. We are not trying to take Nic out of it. We are just re-opening the world. History is happening every second. There is always a time and a place for National Treasure. It was time to get this franchise up and running and get a young, fresh cast in there. There are new stories to tell. It's been 15, 20 years. We are just going to see it from a new angle and keep the door open for everything that has already happened.
Zuri, a lot is thrown at this group of friends. How does Tasha process everything?
Zuri Reed: I think she just takes it a step at a time. It is a lot and out of nowhere, especially because they have no idea where it's really going to end up. Is this treasure real? Are we going on a goose hunt right now? Will something come out of this? The whole team takes the punches as they come and tries to navigate the best way that they can through it.
Lyndon, Agent Ross isn't initially part of the Scooby Gang. Where does she fit into the narrative?
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Smith: She is on a bit of a treasure hunt on her own. In the beginning, if anybody was going to walk into your office with a story about a treasure and a box and a kidnapping, you would just be like, "You are drunk. Go home." Taking a step and recognizing that she could be wrong, it's, "OK, so now you are wrong." I have to be one step behind these kids, trying to pick up any crumb of information that I can. She is going along this whole thing, piecing together who are these kids? Who is this Billie character who keeps crossing my desk? Who is friend? Who is foe? The journey for her to become an ally to them is one that she takes separately from them. She can't get too close. She wants to lend support, but she can't be befriending people who are actually breaking the law. She is an FBI agent, so what is that balancing act?
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Ross is definitely on her own. Do you feel she has something to prove not only to herself but maybe to her superiors?
Smith: Absolutely, because she was top of her class at Quantico. She was put into a high-level position in DC right out of school. She makes one mistake and gets kicked to the curb and sent down to Baton Rouge. Yes, she is absolutely trying to rebuild her professional reputation. Then, you add in that these kids come in with a treasure-hunting story. That is not even a case you would take if you were trying to get respect from your peers. She is only being presented with these options where she is going to get laughed out of the room, but she follows her gut and has a hunch and sees it through.
Zuri, what does Tasha add to the team? What special skillset does she possess?
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Reed: Tasha is a tech genius. She is so tech-savvy. She can rule the world from her laptop. Any good treasure hunt needs that person to crack those codes and take down those walls. That is what Tasha brings to the hunt. She runs a social-media platform where she schools her audience on internet privacy and what it takes to keep the government out of your business. It just so happens that she is Jess' best friend/roommate. The two of them together, they have the perfect tools, without even knowing it, to embark on this crazy journey.
New episodes of National Treasure: Edge of History stream on Wednesdays on Disney+.
