Sofia Pernas identifies with the steely exterior of her 'Blood and Treasure' character, rebel Lexi Vaziri
Actor Sofia Pernas who plays the role of an art thief in the new show 'Blood and Treasure' had a blast working on the show. From the moment she received the script and the breakdown, she considered this a dream role she had wanted to play since she was a little girl.
The treasure hunting/crime drama revolves around Pernas' character Lexi Vaziri and Matt Barr's Danny McNamara, who is out to track the lost treasures that were buried along with Queen Cleopatra and her lover Anthony. Lexi is brave, cynical and calculated when it comes to her actions. Maybe not as responsibly as Danny wants her to be, but she is, after all, a rebel.
"There is a wealth of strong female characters on TV today, but when I was growing up, there wasn't. So it was just an honor to play her. Lexi's everything, not just art. I think it's sort of her middle finger to the world because she really is a rebel," Pernas said in an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW).
Breaking down her character, Pernas explained that Lexi is a rebel, but at this point is without direction: "She has no idea where to direct that rebellious arrow except to the wealthy one percent. It was fun getting to play a character, to really sink my teeth into someone who was entirely different than I was. I mean, she talks different, she walks different, she has a British accent on the show."
Speaking of the transition between her last show 'The Brave' in which she played the role of Hannah Rivera, a former operative turned analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Pernas said it was a bit of a jump. "Hanna was a bit more straight and legit than Lexi is. I took a lot of Hanna with me on this journey. Especially the training that we got on The 'Brave' was valuable for the 'Blood and Treasure'. We got to really experience the firearms and firearms safety and knowing how to shoot a weapon and look like a pro. So it was really great to bring that to Lexi because she does shoot a few guns on the show. Character-wise, although they are very different, both are very passionate, loyal and devoted to their respective causes. So, I think that if you start with that foundation, it is easy to build like on a lego, on the rest," she explained.
Pernas also expanded further on how she personally connected with the character of Lexi and how that helped in playing her. She said: "I think it is her suit of armor - her guard - and I really admire that about her because I sort of have a derivative of that. I have a wall up with a lot of people. Lexi's almost scared to let anyone in because she doesn't want to be vulnerable and expose that vulnerability lest she gets hurt. I sort of have the same way of doing things and I get her in a way. It's how she protects herself so I was able to draw a lot of other conclusions just from that."
'Blood and Treasure' premiered May 21 and the next episode will air May 28 at 10 p.m. ET on CBS.