In April 2020, a little-known, Canadian-made science fiction movie called Code 8 came out
of nowhere and immediately wowed audiences.
Co-written and directed by Jeff Chan, Code 8 is set in the near future in a world where
certain individuals possess superhuman abilities.
Stephen Amell, best known for his years starring on the CW's Arrow, heads up the cast as a
Power-possessor named Garrett, but one of the film's breakout stars is the actress who
plays the metal-melting Maddy.
That's Laysla De Oliveira, and if she looks familiar, it's probably from her work in audacious
genre fare not unlike Code 8.
Before she hit laptop and TV screens as Maddy in Code 8, De Oliveira was best known for
her role as another not-quite human in the Netflix series Locke & Key.
De Oliveira's character, Dodge, is the principal antagonist of the show, based on the beloved
comic series by Stephen King's son, Joe Hill, and Gabriel Rodriguez.
Due to the morphing mechanics of the magical Identity Key, the demon Dodge could feasibly
be portrayed by multiple actors as Locke & Key's plot unfolds.
But hopefully De Oliveira will be back in future seasons, because she definitely shines
in some pivotal moments in the series' first season.
"Death is not as final as you think.
Your whole family can see your dad again."
In addition to charming and conning lonely Bode Locke into breaking her out of her well
house prison to begin her reign of terror, viewers learn she also used her feminine wiles
to trick people into some pretty despicable acts.
It was a role that made audiences sit up and take notice, but it actually wasn't the first
time De Oliveira appeared in an adaptation from the King family.
De Oliveira is quickly becoming a screen-darling, a go-to star for movies and shows.
De Oliveira landed one of her first major film roles in the 2019 horror movie In the
Tall Grass.
In the project, based on a novella by Stephen King and Joe Hill, De Oliveira plays Becky,
six months pregnant and on her way with her brother to start a new life in California.
Those plans fall by the wayside when they get sidetracked by the cries of a boy named
Tobin during a stop near a creepy field.
"Did you hear that?"
"Here what?"
"Help!"
That sets off a whole host of horrors for Becky, who gets lost in the field and quickly
finds out that getting her shoes muddy is going to be the least of her worries.
The stakes build to an insane crescendo, giving De Oliveira plenty of opportunities to let
her acting talents shine.
The role certainly proved that De Oliveira was a star on the rise, and a talent who could
anchor a big project.
While De Oliveira was lucky enough to score two big breakout roles in 2020, she's been
steadily working as an on-screen talent for nearly a decade, honing her skills and building
her resume with small parts in episodic television.
Her first screen credit came from guest-starring on a third-season episode of the USA crime
drama Covert Affairs in 2012.
A year later, De Oliveira returned to the USA Network, portraying a character on an
episode of the espionage series Nikita.
Seemingly finding at least one career niche in genre television, De Oliveira later starred
as a villain on one episode of the CW zom-com iZombie, and three episodes of Fox's X-Men-adjacent
superhero show The Gifted.
Inadvertently preparing for her roles as both Dodge and Maddy, De Oliveira played a young
mutant with the uncanny ability to create glowing orbs of light who escapes from her
unjust confinement in a mental institution.
But De Olivera doesn't only make horror, sci-fi, and fantasy.
She's appeared in several thoughtful and acclaimed indie movies that take place in normal realities
where regular, non-powerful human beings are just trying to, y'know, deal.
In 2018, De Olivera anchored Acquainted, a drama about two old sort-of-friends who reconnect
and are left questioning their pre-existing romantic entanglements.
The movie won the award for Achievement in Filmmaking at the Mammoth Film Festival.
A year later, De Olivera showed off her acting chops again in Guest of Honour by Canadian
writer-director Atom Egoyan.
De Olivera starred as Veronica, a wrongfully convicted woman desperately haunted by her
past.
The film did well on the festival circuit and was nominated for Best Canadian Feature
at the Toronto International Film Festival.
While film buffs might be familiar with those films, parents might notice De Oliveira from
her work in slightly fluffier fare, such as the 2016 American Girl-doll-based movie Lea
to the Rescue.
Like many actors and actresses, De Oliveira parlayed her natural charisma and good looks
early on into a job as a professional model.
So if she looks familiar to someone who has never seen her in any role besides the fiery
Maddy in Code 8, it could be that her face made an impression from a magazine spread
or advertising campaign from a decade ago.
Based on her captivating performances in recent projects like Locke & Key and Code 8, Laysla
De Oliveira will undoubtedly continue to grace our TV screens far into the future.
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