Interview: Lyndon Smith on National Treasure: Edge of History

Alongside the premiere of National Treasure: Edge of History, ComingSoon spoke with Lyndon Smith about his role as FBI Agent Ross on the show. The actress talked about the quirks of her character, the importance of being part of a franchise like National Treasure, her plans and more.

Mira Nair (Queen of Katwe) directed the 10-episode series premiere from a script written by original screenwriters Marianne and Cormac Wibberley. The Disney+ series stars Lisette Alexis as Jess, Catherine Zeta-Jones (Prodigal Son) as Billie, Zuri Reed (Flatbush Misdemeanors) as Tasha, Lyndon Smith (Parenthood) as FBI Agent Ross, Jake Austin Walker (DC's Stargirl) as Liam, Antonio Cipriano (Jagged Little Pill) as Oren, and Jordan Rodrigues (Light as a Feather) as Ethan.

Tudor Leonte: We are recording this interview during the holiday season. What is your plan for these days?

Lyndon Smith: What am I going to do? I'm going to see my parents and my brother. They live in Florida, so I'm going to go see them for a few days. Then I'm going to Costa Rica for New Years with friends. I have never been to Costa Rica. I'm very, very excited. It's going to be a fun few weeks.

That sounds amazing. I looked at your Instagram stories and it seems that you are a fan of Negroni Sbagliato. Do you plan on having a few on New Years Eve?

Oh, yes, absolutely. Negroni's, as one of my favorite cocktails of all time, and I had actually never tried the Sbagliato version until, of course, we all saw that famous clip. I was like, 'Wait, swap with Prosecco? It looks amazing. It was the first one I made last night, and it was so good. Very good. I've had a white Negroni before and obviously the classic one so this was my third version of Negroni.

I agree. It is good indeed. I'd love to discuss cocktails and Negroni, but we're here to chat a bit about National Treasure: Edge of History. How did you land the role of FBI agent Ross?

I read it in September of last year. I remember when I got the audition, I was like, 'Oh my God, National Treasure. I didn't know they were going to make it a series. It's so exciting. I know the fan base has wanted a third movie for so long, and to make it a spectacle, I think it's so modern and fresh. Everyone loves streaming and binging shows these days, so I was like, “Oh my god, this is genius. I would love to be part of that. 'Also to have the juggernaut that is Disney Plus to be behind your show. I read about it like everyone else, then I didn't hear anything for probably a month. Then I got a call that the Wibberleys and Mira Nair, the director of the first episode, wanted to do a Zoom meeting with me. I no longer knew I was in the conversation about it. We had a great meeting with them. They explained what they wanted to do with the character and the show. I was hooked right away, I wanted to do it, and it was just before Christmas that they officially extended the offer. So it was like a very good Christmas present for me last year.

I can guess it was a very nice Christmas present. I was a kid when National Treasure came out and I have very fond memories of it. I would like to ask you if you watched the movie as a teenager or if you watched it later in life.

It's so funny. I'm the only cast member who hadn't seen the movies before I got the job. Everyone grew up with them and loved them. Sure, I knew about the National Treasure movies, like everyone knows those movies, but I hadn't seen them until I got the job. I remember wondering, "It's been 15 years, are these movies going to hold up?" Because sometimes you go back and watch those movies from your childhood and it's like, "Ooh, this isn't good anymore." I loved them. I thought they were so delicious. I thought they were so fun. I loved how they weaved the story into a treasure hunt. History is a bit of a national treasure star, isn't it? Yes, we all love Nick Cage. We love seeing him run around Philadelphia, but the story is the main character. To convey a learning exercise like this with action, romance and humor, no, I mean, it's no wonder they did so well. It's such a fun ride. What's not to like? I loved how multi-generational it was. Kids loved it, parents loved it, grandparents loved it. Hopefully we can win back the hearts of the original fanbase and bring in new treasure hunters with this show.