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[ThisstorycontainsmajorspoilersforSeason3of[ThisstorycontainsmajorspoilersfromthethirdseasonofNight agent.]
Genesis Rodriguez didn’t quite know what she was signing up for when she agreed to play financial journalist Isabel de Leon in the third season of the Netflix series. Night agent.
She’s embarked on a new mission in Season 2 of Taylor Sheridan’s spy thriller Lionessin which she played a US Army pilot, Rodriguez had to change her style to play an intelligent woman whose investigative reporting reveals that her own flesh and blood is at the heart of a government conspiracy. “It’s annoying. I went from this very tough, physical persona[in[inLioness]for a very cerebral personality[in[inNight agent],” Rodriguez previously said Hollywood Reporter When filming the newly released third season Night agent In Istanbul in December 2024. “I like a challenge.”
At that point, Rodriguez was still largely in the dark about her character’s connection to the central plot of season three. Midway through the season, protagonist Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), like the rest of the audience, discovers that Isabel is actually the estranged daughter of Jacob Monroe (Louis Herthum), the ruthless intelligence broker with whom Peter made a deal at the end of season 2 to thwart a terrorist attack on the United Nations building in New York.
Rising reporter for Financial record In New York, Isabel secretly traveled to Istanbul at the beginning of the season to meet with fugitive FinCEN analyst Jay Batra (Suraj Sharma) and obtain secret evidence of a massive US-wide money laundering operation that funded a deadly terrorist attack on a civilian airliner. This clue puts her in the crosshairs of a powerful network, including corrupt banker Freya Myers (Michaela Watkins), an unknown assassin played by Stephen Moyer, and a shady businessman who happens to be her old man. Teaming up with Peter, Isabel begins to connect the financial dots between the local shell companies owned by her father and President Richard Hagan (Ward Horton).
Through a series of revelations and flashbacks, Isabel discovers that her mother, Sofía (Daniela Peña), was a victim of her biological father’s past life when he was a CIA agent in the 1990s. Sophia died in prison years ago while Monroe chose to protect herself. Despite this painful history, Monroe’s lingering paternal instinct becomes a catalyst for the plot; He eventually agrees to tear down his criminal empire and cooperate with Peter specifically to ensure Isabel’s safety. However, in the end, Monroe is shot in the head by Peter’s new partner, Adam (David Lyons), who turns out to be President Hagan’s former commanding officer in the military and has been hired as a night agent to specifically execute orders on behalf of the corrupt president.
After Monroe’s death, which she believed was not a planned suicide, Isabelle realizes that the key to the massive database of forensic evidence that would bring down her father’s entire criminal enterprise is hidden inside a sentimental copy of… Grimm’s fairy tales. By decrypting this book, she unlocks the evidence needed to bring down the conspiracy. In the high-stakes finale, she survives an attack by the president’s rogue agents and successfully broadcasts a live interview – with Myers recording for publication – exposing the First Family’s criminal behavior to the world, providing a sense of closure to her family’s tragic past while holding the most powerful people in the country accountable.
“It’s a very brave thing to throw yourself under the bus or throw everyone under the bus because the truth and its moral compass is so strong that that’s the most important thing above everything else. Let it all burn,” Rodriguez says now. THR In an interview about Season 3, which was released on January 19. “It’s very poignant. It’s very relevant in today’s world. I think journalists – and playing journalist right now – are very important, and there are people in real life trying to spread the truth and risking everything.”
Below, Rodriguez offers her take on Isabel and Monroe’s fractured but loving relationship, why she never saw Isabel and Peter’s relationship as anything more than platonic — and what viewers can expect from the next season of Sheridan’s series. Lionesswhich says it will wrap production very soon.
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Once you got the role, what do you remember of your first conversations with creator and showrunner Sean Ryan about Isabel’s story in Season 3? Did you know who she really was?
I had no idea who it was until I filmed it, which was really cool because I was finding out with the audience. I honestly feel like it was okay that way because I don’t think Isabelle was really interested in his backstory. It was the existing relationship she had with him that informed the way she treated him. It was a difficult situation for her because after all, he was her father. And underneath all the resentment and abandonment there is always love there. So it was very difficult and multi-layered and we had to get rid of it [believably] Turn in your father when your relationship with him is not good. [We wanted] Her search for the truth is what drives her. I think she is a very special person who puts her morals and integrity above everything, and above her relationship with her father.
You mentioned that you didn’t know her real identity until you were filming. At what point during filming did you learn that she was Monroe’s estranged daughter?
I learned after the third episode. So here you are investigating [a shell company called] Dynamics Corppoint. I knew it had something to do with my father, but I didn’t know how. I guess she didn’t know much about him. So, in a way, she was just investigating where he got his money and how he got his money. It didn’t make sense to her. Especially regarding the way she dealt with the press in general, she said: “Always follow the money.” It’s a different approach than what you would do [normally] Getting to the truth and how you feel justice will be served. So I think [her arc] It was, in a strange way, coming to know who her father was because he never shared that with her.
One of the things I appreciate about this show is how the cultural details of the characters of color have been woven into the last two seasons — the Iranian story in season two, and now Isabel’s bicultural US-Mexico upbringing in season three. You’re Venezuelan and Cuban, but have you ever had any conversations with Sean about weaving in any cultural details for Isabel?
I personally love the episode where they go back in time just to give you a full perspective on how she came to be. I honestly feel like Shawn did such a good job of bringing so much backstory that it was really easy for me to benefit from bringing this to life — to be someone who comes to the United States to better themselves, to pursue a dream. This is the story of this country, and there are a lot of people like this. I am a child of immigrants. It’s easy to take advantage of this and combine two cultures. This is what I grew up with. So just by being open to words, he was also very open to whatever I had to say about things — it was just a very collaborative environment when it came to shaping and sculpting this character.
Much of this season hinges on this unexpected new alliance between Peter and Isabel. They start out on a more hostile note, but episode four definitely reveals a new side of that dynamic as they confide in each other about their personal lives — with Peter even risking his life to save Isabel’s. Why do you think Isabel immediately and implicitly trusts herself in Peter, even when she’s worried about having her journalistic credibility questioned?
I think when people are in danger, and they’re in danger together and he easily steps in to protect her, it creates a bond. But what I love about their relationship is that romance isn’t just a question. They are two people with the same idea, the same journey to do the right thing. They are experts at what they do in their own way, and they both complement each other. She is very intelligent and adept at researching and going down the rabbit hole, very good at connecting the dots in real time and very instinctive. They have two different experiences coming together for the same thing. Not only that, but it’s also refreshing that B The male and female have a friendship on television, where she harasses him all the time and he allows it. It’s refreshing to see that for these two characters.
When I spoke with Sean Ryan about Season 3, he told me that he never intended to get involved in any kind of romance between Peter and Isabel, but some viewers still thought Isabel was being set up as a kind of love interest for Peter. Did you, at any point, see the potential there, even if you were excited at the prospect of them being just friends?
i don’t think so. I definitely don’t think we played that way. Words don’t lend to romance. It lent trust and led to friendship. Especially because she was so confident in the booth in the pool episode [episode four]. It’s like, “Okay, what’s your deal? You haven’t looked at me sideways. Not once.” all The man looks at me sideways. What’s your problem?” (He laughs.) and it was so refreshing to see that he couldn’t have that [romantic relationship] And he has his job, and does what his journey aims to do. I really enjoyed that it wasn’t that. It’s very hard going into a third season and people are already comparing you to someone else. I don’t feel like I’m filling a void; It’s like a little separate thing. So that was kind of a dilution.
Isabel keeps telling Monroe throughout the season that she can’t trust him. At one point, she says, “I don’t know what a negotiating point is or isn’t, not even about your cancer diagnosis. And now you want me to play like I’m a good daughter. Like you didn’t abandon my mom and me. I want my dad in my life…but you have to deserve it.” Do you think there’s any world in which Isabelle can trust Jacob, or will she always resent him for abandoning her and her mother and then trying to buy her love?
I fully believe that if Monroe had been led to the truth, despite the judgment she would have made, she would have at least been open [to a relationship]. But the man didn’t know how not to lie, even to protect her. He couldn’t help himself. I feel like her little token she got was that he loved her, despite the fact that he was never open with her. This is something she’ll have to deal with once she decodes everything and sees that her mother means a lot to him, and the story she told herself wasn’t entirely true. But the sad thing is that there was no real closure. There is closure about who he is and that he loved her, but they never had the opportunity to have a real relationship.
One of the standout moments of the season for me was when Isabelle, who had deliberately chosen not to say goodbye to her father, learned that he had suddenly died. Can you give voice to what’s going through her head as she tries to process this news?
I think it’s the loss of the relationship that could have been. It is the loss of the only parent who was alive. Even though you don’t get along with them, you will still miss that parent. Even if they disappoint you, even if they break your heart, now you don’t have anyone. I think she was more mourning than she might have been. And when you have the opportunity to play these things, it’s a lot of fun because they’re so complex. There are many different emotions battling within you that you have to interpret. I’m glad you were happy with this scene, but you’re clearly also losing some sleep before you do it. (He laughs.) You say, “Gosh, I hope I got this right.”
Shortly after processing the news, Isabel insisted that she wanted nothing to do with her father anymore. Do you think there’s a part of Isabel that still loves her father, even after he’s killed? Do you think she only said that to the people around her as a way to suppress her grief?
definitely. Throughout the entire story, she loves her father. No matter who or what this person is, you are still looking for validation and love from your parents. You can be 80 years old and still live this way. I absolutely believe she loved him – and continues to love him. And even though he delivered and all that stuff, that was the reason behind it all. This is what made it so difficult because he was diagnosed with cancer. There were so many things she wanted from him that he couldn’t even tell her. There was no way to have a relationship the way he was presenting it.
After the FinCEN scandal involving the President of the United States came to light, Isabel chose not to reveal Peter’s involvement with Monroe in her reporting. “You were the only one who made a deal with my father who was actually trying to help people. And you weren’t the story,” she told Peter. What exactly do you think she learned from working with him?
What you discover is that not everyone is black and white, and that sometimes you have to do certain things to do the right thing. I think she could accept it because of her relationship with Peter, because she saw his heart underneath and who he was and why he did certain things. And for her, it definitely changed after her relationship with Peter because in the beginning it was always black and white and there was room for grey. She finally saw it in the end.
The last time we saw Isabel on screen, she told Peter that she was going to Barcelona for a few months to try to find some balance in her life. Is this the last we see of Isabelle, or have you had any discussions with Sean about the character returning in a future season?
I will definitely do that love To come back. The door is definitely open, so hopefully there will be a story in the future where that could happen.
I’ve spent the last few months filming the third season of Lioness. How far along are you in production now, and what new layers have you found in playing Josie this time around?
We’re almost done with season three. It’s interesting that the two characters I play have some parental issues. (He laughs.) We are having fun. We are just coming into another busy season. I think it will be released later this year. So I guess spoiling without Spoilers, apparently she’s back for season three. You see it in the dynamic within QRF now, and how it fits into the dynamic now. When I saw her, she was kind of weird and wasn’t accepted by the QRF, and now she’s part of the team. And obviously there’s the whole “Crusie” thing [a portmanteau of Rodriguez’s Josie and Laysla De Oliveira’s Cruz Manuelos] The situation happens. And “Cruzi” is still sailing!
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The first three seasons of Night agent It’s now streaming on Netflix. The first two seasons of Lioness Now streaming on Paramount+. He reads THRProfile of the star Gabriel Bassoand our post-finale interview with creator and showrunner Sean Ryan.
