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Josie Totah is the exact opposite of an enigma (not that Leos are known for being particularly mysterious): She wants to be seen. She wants to play and to give her two cents. She wants all the drama and the comedy and the ability to take control of her career.
Totah went from making “little short films on a camcorder” at age three to a seven-episode arc on the beloved Disney show Jessie, to a starring role in the “Girls meets Bridgerton” period drama, The Buccaneers. Now, as the actor embarks on a slew of new projects, she is closer than ever to achieving her desires — to making her life and art exactly how she wants it to be.
Totah, now 24, sauntered out of her child-star days with style and grace, straight into AppleTV+'s The Buccaneers, which was recently renewed for season three. Totah portrays the fiery, emotional rebel that is Mabel Elmsworth with a wisdom beyond her years, holding in her hands a rare and precious piece of sapphic representation on TV that has made it past a second season.
She is taking this wisdom with her into upcoming projects, including her role as Tina in Carrie, the Steven King book and film classic that is being reimagined for a new generation. She was tasked with breathing new life into a once minor character and tearing down walls that exist in the horror canon.
With Totah's untamable creativity and her innate sense of confidence and self-assuredness, how could anyone not take a seat? Below, Josie Totah speaks with us for Teen Vogue's New Hollywood Class of 2025.
Josie Totah: It's really special because there aren't a lot of those characters in this genre, so getting to go back in time and tell a story from a newer lens feels refreshing and exciting. I think it makes for a really good story, too, because it's not what we've seen before.
JT: When I first got the show, I was trying to do that and relate, but I was having difficulty because I could only imagine how hard it must've been for queer people back then. Also, because our show modernizes the genre, that made it difficult too. So, I think in some ways, yes, but in other ways, no. I'm really close with my mom, [whereas Mabel is] trying to get her mom to understand her. For me, it was more about trying to relate to the universal themes of belonging, acceptance, identity.
JT: Yeah, I mean, I've pitched a lot of crazy stuff to the writers, and I actually was just told what the season three storyline for Mabel is going to be. It is slightly similar to something that I pitched… at our premiere party, with the showrunner and the producer. So that makes me really happy. I want her to have a passionate sort of journey through love and intimacy among hijinks and edginess.
JT: I think I have a loud mouth, and I also have a really good friendship with the producers and stuff. We're always talking about, “What if this person did this?” My cast mates joke — Alisha [Boe] and me, especially, joke — “Josie's, always pitching. She always has a pitch.” But so far we've gone [with] a few of them in the show, which has been really cool.
JT: It's interesting, because I was in college when I got the audition for it. In the log line it was like, “Girls meets Bridgerton,” which I thought was really cool, and Girls is my favorite show of all time. So to dangle that in my face was enough to make me want to audition.
JT: Everyone is sort of equally flawed. I feel like Marnie is very Gen Z-coded in that she might've been written off as sort of self-centered or kind of delusionally aspirational, but I think that sense of determination and assuming a place in the world… is something I relate to. But I'm also not doing any covers anytime soon.
JT: I don't really feel like I was ever a Disney star, so I don't think I've ever had to break away from it. But it's really cool, 'cause you know, I was only ever in seven episodes of that show, Jessie, and to this day it is the biggest thing anyone… who's remotely my age or younger than me, they know me from that. That's really, really special. I've done things that have lasted a lot longer.
When I was doing [that show,] there wasn't really Instagram or social media or TikTok. To think that something that long ago can be remembered, even though I wasn't one of the bigger people — I was no Sabrina Carpenter, or even some of my other cast mates, I didn't have that. So I don't think it's something I had to break out of, and I think having moderate success helps me in that way, maybe. I don't know.
JT: Very important caveat. My sister, she did theater, and I think I wanted to be like her.
JT: Thank you for knowing who my best friends are in real life. Dylan just did her one-woman show in New York Off Broadway… and had an incredible New York Times review. She has the most perseverance of any woman I know, and also is the most intelligent and most talented. I think I learned from her [that] you really have to believe in what you got and you can't expect anyone else to. And Miss Benny is also killing it…. I think those girls are, like, they keep me going.
I also think the girls on [The Buccaneers] are just always my sounding boards for anything. I will call them constantly, emotional or with anxiety, needing a word. So we kind of do everything in tandem and keep each other all in the loop.
JT: Certainly you can have a lot more spotlight and visibility now, but it's also harder to stay a normal human with everything being laid out in front of you like that. I think it is an advantage, though, probably to most people — although I'm glad I didn't have that when I was really little… because I was a really crazy child and I probably would've gone viral for doing some crazy stuff.
JT: I was always really inspired by people who could do both [comedy and drama] — Robin Williams or Whoopi Goldberg, or a younger person like Emma Stone. I feel like I looked up to those people because I saw them doing it. Or Melissa McCarthy, doing crazy kind of screwball stuff, but then also being able to be serious and do grounded work. I wanted, hopefully, to be able to do that well, like those people do.
JT: My role in Carrie is fun and interesting because, in the film, she had a different name and it wasn't a big character, so there was a lot of exploring and playing to do. Mike Flanagan, who's our director/writer, he's so amazing and I'm so grateful to work with him. It was really cool that he gave me permission to play so much. Having made some of the most emotional, scary, heartbreaking horror movies and television shows, I don't know if he's been around a lot of people who play, like me, in that way when I'm given permission to. I was really grateful that we had this nice synergy [between] the canonical nature of the show, which is the Stephen King book, while also having room to extrapolate on that.
JT: I'm so excited about Faces of Death because it's a movie that I would be dying to go see in the theaters. I didn't work with Charli; I wish I did. I don't know if I would've been able to do that and seriously act because I do spend most of that movie unwell — let's just say that. But I'm so excited about that [movie], and I just love Barbie [Ferreira] and the whole cast.
JT: I think in my career, it's about trying to be intentional. It can be really easy as an actor to kind of feel [trapped], and I want to try to have more agency in my decision-making. I want to become better in a new way, too, now that I'm older. I've gotten to be a small part of a lot of big things, and I wouldn't mind getting to be a big part of a few small things.
JT: I think I want to be able to feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew, and then, hopefully, prove to myself that I didn't.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
