Luciane Buchanan on Chief of War, Polynesian Identity, and Her Spiritual Journey

Luciane Buchanan joins Kyle Meredith With… to talk about her powerful role in Chief of War, the new Apple TV+ series created by and starring Jason Momoa. Set during the late 18th century, the show tells the story of the unification of the Hawaiian Islands—told through an Indigenous lens—and Buchanan plays Queen Ka'ahumanu whose political savvy and presence made the unification possible. It’s an expansive, lushly shot series about resistance, legacy, and the long shadow of colonization. Listen now.

“I had no idea about Hawaiian history at all,” Buchanan admitted. “I had heard of King Kamehameha, but that was about it.” Once cast, she took a deep dive into archives and oral histories, even tracking down the Queen’s birthplace in a cave on Maui. “I just kind of let her spirit know that I might not be the right person to do so… but I wanted to honor her in the best way I could,” she said of a solo pilgrimage that turned unexpectedly spiritual. “The trees started to shake. The wind picked up. And then it all went quiet.”

Beyond the emotional weight of the role, Buchanan had to tackle practical challenges—like learning the Hawaiian language and holding her own opposite 6’4” Momoa. “I required a lot of apple boxes because of our height difference,” she laughed. But the bigger challenge was mastering a language she didn’t grow up speaking: “There was a lot of pressure. You can’t ad-lib in another language. You can’t just get the gist of it.”

Listen to Luciane Buchanan chat about all this and more our watch it on YouTube. Please take the time to like, review, and subscribe to KMW wherever you get your podcasts, and keep up to date with all our series by following the Consequence Podcast Network.

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