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The season finale of “National Treasure: Edge of History” airs on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Disney
NEW YORK, February 7th. (UPI) – Stars National Treasure: Edge of History say that, unlike the first two films in the franchise, their Disney+ series is about the adventures of amateur puzzle solvers, not seasoned experts – and this brings a new twist to the beloved story.
The show centers on Jess (Lizette Olivera) and her group of 20-year-old Louisiana friends who unexpectedly receive clues to hidden riches, which they then pursue across the United States and Mexico while evading authorities and the enigmatic but resourceful Billie (Catherine Zeta-Jones). ).
“Jess Valenzuela is a super genius and Tasha (Zuri Reed) is a crazy tech guy,” Jake Austin Walker, who plays Liam, the grandson of Peter Sadusky, the FBI agent portrayed by Harvey Keitel in the films, told UPI. recent Zoom interview.
“But I think what’s so cool about [the show] is that this group can almost get other groups of friends to say, “We have to try! We must try this! In the first two films, it felt like only Ben (Nicolas Cage) and Riley (Justin Bartha) could do it.”
“Because they’re official treasure hunters and we’re just normal people,” chimed in Antonio Cipriano, who plays Tasha’s funny, smarter-than-life ex-boyfriend, Oren.
“In the beginning there is a quest room and [the show] it’s like an escape room because we’re all normal people cracking these clues,” Cipriano said.
Jordan Rodriguez, who plays Jess’ ex-boyfriend Ethan, noted how much has changed since then. National treasure was released in 2004 and its sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets, which came out three years later.
The show is a continuation [of National Treasure] Decades later, obviously the technology has gotten better, the clues have gotten more sophisticated, the gadgets that keep these treasures safe are very sophisticated,” Rodriguez said.
Walker pointed out that the first movie opened before the arrival of iPhones.
“There was no Google or Wikipedia,” he said. “We are not stupid that we have access to the Internet and I think that plays a huge role in our show.”
Reid described Tasha as “a tech genius who runs a social media platform where she educates her audience about online privacy and what it takes to keep government from interfering with your business.”
“She’s very direct in her thoughts and beliefs, but because Jess is her best friend, she’s forced to re-evaluate that,” Reed said.
“When it comes to this hunt, I don’t think Tasha has any idea what exactly is going to happen, but she is so fearless that she will do absolutely anything to help her best friend.”
Tasha and lovable FBI Special Agent Hannah Ross, played by Lyndon Smith, are perhaps the show’s most skeptical and pragmatic characters, lending a sense of reality to the treasure hunters’ antics.
“There is all this adventure and love, but they are based on real relationships. They are based on a true story,” Smith said.
“It’s epic and dynamic and beautiful, but also real, and I think all of these characters put the pieces of the puzzle together and represent the world around us right now very well.”
Reid said that she thought having a large and diverse cast of young characters was a smart way to make the franchise accessible to viewers of all ages in 2022–23.
“You want to sit and watch something that the whole family will enjoy,” she said. “We have a normal life, normal work is something that can touch everyone. We’ve just been handed this crazy key to a treasure that may or may not exist, and our lives change.”
Final of the season National Treasure: Edge of History Coming Wednesday on Disney+