Josie Totah Lives to Act

“Oh my god, Alisha just texted me. She has no idea I’m wearing her underwear.” Josie Totah, who plays Mabel on the AppleTV+ series The Buccaneers, now in its second season, is laughing about her castmate Alisha Boe, who plays one of Mabel’s friends, Conchita. “It’s a gorgeous red thong, which won’t surprise anyone. It’s very Alisha,” Totah laughs. “Make that the headline. I’ve met some of my best friends from this show. We’re all really close.”

Based on an unfinished Edith Wharton novel, The Buccaneers is a non-historically accurate depiction of life in Victorian-era England, following a group of American women as they navigate societal pressures and challenges. The second season thus far is distinctly darker than the first; the struggles we see these women through are quite heavy: abusive relationships, untimely death, manipulation, secret loves, secret mothers...all things considered, the characters take their troubles in stride, with lots of loving support from each other—and, ultimately, this feels like the point of it all.

Totah’s character, Mabel, is a young and energetic American. As fun-loving as she is, she is dealing with major struggles too: a closeted woman, her romantic relationship with the English Lady Honoria Marable has to be kept mostly secret, and her own mother is not at all supportive. “Mabel really struggles with her mom’s acceptance of her,” Totah says. “I definitely cannot imagine what that would be like, my family is very supportive.” But Lizzy, Mabel’s on-screen sister, reminds her of her own sister, Camille. “Their closeness, their bond is really special,” she explains. “I think anyone who has a sister kind of can relate to what it feels like to have someone in your life who can understand you without having to explain much.”

Totah is a born performer—she began acting in local theater productions at four years old, and she moved from her hometown in Northern California to Los Angeles when she was ten to pursue acting in a larger way. She did exactly that, appearing for seven episodes as Stuart on the Disney Channel comedy Jessie in her second year in LA. Since then, she’s continued to act in a wide range of roles, mostly in comedy, including Peacock’s sharp reboot of Saved by the Bell. Now, she says, it’s cool to be able to do a lot of everything. The Buccaneers, for one, is fairly unfamiliar territory. Totah says she has not personally watched many period dramas, but the show is also a unique take on one. “Because it’s not super period accurate, the characters feel like they really resonate with you,” she says. “It feels really modern in a way that isn’t trashing history but allows you to be a little more relatable,” she continues. “We’re not caricatures. We’re human beings.”

With The Buccaneers wrapped, Totah is currently in Vancouver, where she’ll spend the next few months shooting a horror: Amazon’s Carrie series, directed by Mike Flanagan. She stars as Tina, a character she describes as “kind of a mean… let’s just say it, she’s a bitch,” Totah laughs. “But she’s like a really insecure bitch. So there’s redemption to be had for her.” Next, she’d love to play a role in “a slice of life drama”—perhaps in the vein of Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Translation or Greta Gerwig’s Ladybird. Or she’d love to return to comedy in a big way.

In spite of the fact Totah has always worked as an actor, she also got a degree in film from Chapman during what was a very busy time. “I was driving two hours to and from set almost every day for four years,” she recalls. But it was important to her to accomplish that goal, for herself and her work. “I love learning. I love being in class. But I also think as actors we have a mandate to kind of live our lives to the fullest extent. I didn’t go to drama school and I don’t practice the craft of acting in a textual, literary way. I just pull from my life,” she explains. “In order to have stuff to pull from, I have to make memories. I did a lot of that in school.”

These days, as soon as she’s back from Vancouver, Totah is making more memories and living more life in New York City, to which she moved in January. In some ways, she’s living another television dream. “I mean, I’m watching Sex and the City,” she says. By nature, she’s adventurous—“I’m really down for anything”—and nurturing: among her friends, she’s the connector, gathering everyone to meet for food regularly and explore the city by bike. “I took everyone to Harlem a few weeks ago and went to this restaurant called the Good Good,” she recalls. “It’s like hot honey fried chicken. It was fucking bomb.” This is a role she plays often: “That’s me, the mama. I’m very much the kind of person who will text the group chat and be like, ‘I have a reservation on this day.’ It’s cute.”

The Buccaneers continues on Wednesdays on Apple TV+.