DIVA met with AppleTV+’s newest sapphic couple Mabel and Honoria from their hit period drama
BY ELLA GAUCI, IMAGE BY APPLETV+
Sapphics love period dramas. Look no further than Gentleman Jack, Colette, or Portrait Of A Lady On Fire. This winter AppleTV+ has given us a new lesbian couple to root for – Mabel and Honoria – in their new show The Buccaneers.
Based on Edith Wharton’s novel of the same name, the show explores the culture clash that ensues when five rowdy American girls hit the streets of 1870s British polite society. Starring trans icon Josie Totah as Mabel and Mia Threapleton as Honoria, audiences everywhere have fallen in love with their beautiful storyline.
We caught up with Josie and Mia ahead of the finale to find out more about bringing this story to life.
Our readers have fallen in love with Mabel and Honoria, it’s so great to see that type of representation in a historical drama. Why do you think it’s so important to see those storylines set in the past?
Josie: I think it’s important because queer people didn’t just come out of 2014. They have existed since the dawn of time and I think their stories deserve to be told. To get to do that in a genre where that is very under-represented was very exciting for us.
Mia: It would be silly for us to not think that those sorts of relationships happened at that time because they absolutely did. It felt really nice to do justice to the love that people had even if it was hundreds of years ago. It was nice to bring that forward.
Your characters seem to have instant chemistry when they meet – what was it like working together and how did you build up that relationship?
Mia: We had such a giggle.
Josie: We had so much fun!
Mia: As a cast as a whole we spent a lot of time together, but Josie and I spent significant amounts of time together – whether we were talking about scenes coming up or just evenings where Josie would come round.
Josie: She made me bread!
Mia: We did have a brilliant time and I think how close we did end up becoming outside of work did – I hope – translate onto the screen.
Queer characters in history have often been forgotten or erased. When you were thinking about these roles, where did you draw inspiration?
Josie: My life! Just existing as a queer person. It was such a crazy thing to think about what it was like to be queer in the 1800s. I just thought about what it was like being queer in 2005 and 2007 and existing as a kid and even how difficult it was then.
Mia: Love is subjective so it’s different for every person. I just tried to pay attention to my own internal feelings and how I experience love as me. I used those feelings to connect to how Honoria was feeling love.
What do you hope audiences take away from your characters?
Mia: Love anyone!
Josie: Be your unapologetic self.
Mia: Kiss whoever!
Josie: As many times as you want… with their consent!
You can watch The Buccaneers now on AppleTV+. Follow us on TikTok
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