The Buccaneers has its big finale this week and actors Josie Totah and Mia Threapleton have all the tea on what will happen on the fun-loving corseted Apple TV+ period drama.
Totah and Threapleton star as Mabel Elmsworth and Honoria Marable, respectively in the series that follows a group of young American girls in the London season of the 1870s. It results in a culture clash as uppity tradition is challenged. For Totah, The Buccaneers is a bit of a change of pace for her as we are used to seeing her in comedies like the Saved by the Bell revival.
“I think that’s what was so exciting to me about this project in particular because I hadn’t had much experience in this genre,” Totah told GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos. “I had long looked up to people like Whoopi Goldberg, Jim Carrey, and Robin Williams who have done amazing work in [comedy and drama] and it was fun to kind of get to incorporate like a lot of those humorous bits in it as well.”
“I mean, maybe too much,” Threapleton joked. “There was a lot of laughter and even if you had to be serious on camera, you were not serious off the camera.” She added, “You were fantastic — it was so much fun!”
Mabel and Honoria are a couple and the actors have great chemistry as the characters. With the finale this week, the two tease what will happen with their relationship in the finale.
“I think that we definitely have one of the more… how should I say… lovely ending of the season storylines compared to maybe some of the other characters,” Totah revealed. “I also think so much of our characters’ joy on the screen also comes with the sort of dread of the time period and what that brings.”
Totah later added that playing a queer character in a project like The Buccaneers means everything to her and that LGBTQ representation is always at the forefront for her. She never thought that she would be doing a period drama. “I’m really excited to get to do all different genres and delve into different characters.”
Threapleton said that working with Totah has been amazing. “We had such a wonderful time working together,” she said. “She’s so brilliant and talented at what [she] does.”
She continued, “It felt really, really good to be able to do a love story like this [and] to do it justice… in a meaningful way to the people who are going to find it meaningful.”
The Buccaneers finale will be available Apple TV+ on December 13.