The Night Agent Star Luciane Buchanan Shares Bathing Suit Video From Hawaii

1. Acting Ambitions

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Buchanan wanted to act for as long as she can remember. “I guess it was always there for me, I don’t really remember a time where it wasn’t something I wanted to do,” she says. “I was a 90s square eyed kid and always had a sense of play, so naturally I wanted to do what I saw everyday on TV. I always thought I’d be too shy to ever do anything about it but I am so happy I have. I think the moment I fell in love with it was on Billy 6 years ago now, which was my first experience on set.”

2. American Accent

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Kiwi native Buchanan had to learn an American accent for her role as Larkin. "That took up a lot of time," she says. "And I had an amazing dialect coach, Doug Abrams, and he spent a lot of time with me... There was definitely some hard words for sure, people's names [for example]."

3. Complex Roles

Buchanan loves the acting roles available for women these days. “I’m loving all the complex badass female roles in TV like, Lagertha from Vikings, Offred in The Handmaid’s Tale and all the characters Tatiana Maslany plays in Orphan Black,” she says. “I’m really lucky with the next characters I’m playing this year – I love them in two completely different ways. I think for me, characters with heart and an evolving journey in a story that I care about are the roles I want to be playing.” Buchanan has good advice for young actors trying to make it. “Just do it. Don’t wait for it to come to you, the more you put into it you will get back (like anything else). Make your own work if jobs aren’t coming in. Learn, learn, learn. Jump in the deep end because it is rewarding, expect hard work and fun times.”

4. Bona Fide Hit

Buchanan is thrilled with the public response to The Night Agent. “I thought nothing of it, I was like, ‘Whatever, see what happens’. I thought I had no chance,” she says. “You put things out there, and being from New Zealand, you think, ‘No one is going to see this’... “A friend of mine said she overheard her co-workers talking about it in the staff room. Another friend in London said a bunch of people were talking about it at the bar. It’s totally overwhelming and I don’t think I’ve processed everything just yet. I’m just kind of hiding in my room.”

5. Millennial Life

Buchanan is grateful for her millennial life. “For me, although we live a crazy time right now with everything that is happening in the world, one thing about being a millennial I do appreciate is the opportunities,” she says. “It’s so huge and I think we forget how lucky we have it (especially in Aotearoa). It’s so cool watching friends and people I grew up with living their dreams. The opportunities I’ve had career wise might not have been there for someone like me back in the day. To be a young educated Tongan woman that gets to live the way I want, I mean it’s pretty cool and I get to own it. Also, my views, my voice and the things that I know would be very different, so I think we are privileged in that way.”