Luciane Buchanan
Luciane Buchanan is an actor, producer and screenwriter, who stars in The Night Agent thriller series, one of Netflix’s five most popular English-language shows ever. She also broke ground by writing the first professional short film to be both written and directed by Tongan women: Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue, directed by Vea Mafile’o.
Stephen King is a fan of The Night Agent, praising the “good chemistry” between the character played by Luciane Buchanan and the show’s hero. “Having him tweet about our show and our characters was pretty crazy,” laughs Luciane.
She filmed her audition tape during the initial lockdown in Tāmaki Makaurau on a Hail Mary – not expecting anything from it – and she ended up the most-searched actor on the IMDb website for two weeks after the show dropped in March. But while a ton of lovely messages for her breakthrough role is, well, lovely, the Mt Albert resident finds good on-set collaboration to be the most satisfying aspect of her professional life: “It’s magic to me. Everyone has a part to play, and everyone is important to the final product.”
She feels lucky to be playing Queen Ka’ahumanu, a powerful real-life politician in Jason Momoa’s Chief of War series, saying it’s the first time historical figures have been portrayed from a Polynesian perspective. Speaking ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i in the show was challenging but it’s also rewarding “knowing Hawaiian kids will have this show and hear their language”.
Luciane’s realisation as an adult that she did not share a language with her own beloved grandmother led her to write Lea Tupu’anga / Mother Tongue, about a woman who lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job. Her grandmother’s hospital experiences – the “terrible” way many doctors talk to people who don’t speak English – are also in the script. “My family are my main inspiration for everything I do – their work ethic and resilience, their sacrifices and support,” says Luciane, whose mother’s family immigrated from Tonga to Aotearoa in the 1970s. (Luciane was an associate producer for The Panthers, TVNZ’s mini-series about the Polynesian Panther Party.)
Her Bachelor of Arts in drama and psychology gave her good tools for “fun” character research. “My approach to story is very in-depth and, having studied psychology, I’m always pushing to figure out why characters make these decisions. I think it’s important to have empathy as a storyteller,” she says. She loved her time at the University of Auckland, discovering filmmakers she’d never heard of in the AV (audiovisual) library, and finding community in the Psychology Kōhanga study space where Māori and Pacific students share research, ideas and meals. She credits tuākana (peer support) for making a difference to her experience. “I really found my confidence as an individual in those years.”
She found her love for screenwriting during a year in Los Angeles. “From there I accepted that maybe acting wasn’t the road for me, now that I found screenwriting just as creatively fulfilling.” She returned home and found jobs behind the camera. “And of course the moment you say ‘I think I’m going to let acting go’, the roles kept coming!”
Now 30, she’s keen to produce more stories she’s passionate about. “I’m very lucky to be where I am now career-wise, but it is still challenging, in a space that is predominately male and white, to stay true to my instincts as a storyteller,” she says. At the same time, she relishes other professional challenges. “In this line of work there is always something to learn, and I want to be pushed, in whatever is next.”