Photography by Pip, grooming by Sven Bayerbach at Carol Hayes Management using Daimon Barber and styling by Nathan Henry assisted by Stoyan Chuchuranov and Rachel Allison.

In Game of Thrones, Lord Baelish said chaos was a ladder. In Charlie Covell’s new series KAOS, it’s even more than that: it’s mythological, it’s whimsical, and it’s most certainly as queer and trans as can be. Netflix’s latest creation brings Greek myths to life, in the same vein as the ‘90s’ sapphic sensation Xena: Warrior Princess, while channeling the camp of White Lotus. 

KAOS brings us into a world where Greek gods live among us and for most powerful one of all, Zeus (Jeff Goldblum) is balancing forehead wrinkles that signal the worldwide calamity and a vengeful paranoia towards his devotees. But KAOS also revolves around the three humans, Eurydice/Riddy (Aurora Perrineau), Ariadne/Ari (Leila Farzad), and Caeneus (Misia Butler), whose lives appear to be more connected to each other and a grand conspiracy involving Zeus.   

INTO spoke with KAOS standout Butler about how Caeneus’ story ties into his own, and what to expect for season 2 of KAOS.

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What was going through your mind while you were auditioning for KAOS’s Caeneus?

Honestly, I had just such a visceral reaction to the concept of a Greek myths show written by one of my favorite writers [Charlie Covell]. I have been obsessed with End of the Fucking World for such a long time, I’ve [known] about this transmasculine character, who I’ve been obsessed with as a myth for probably about a decade now. Being able to play [Caeneus], that was just a dream. So it was terrifying to me. I was sweating for about three months straight as I navigated the process.

Beyond your transmasculine identity, did you share any other connections or personality traits with your character Caeneus?

The writing is just so good, so real and truthful that even if it wasn’t a character that I empathized with and understood, I feel like I would be able to do that. With Caeneus, me and Charlie both talked so much about how natural it felt to embody him and to speak his words. His humor is really understated. I’m not necessarily the jokester, but I like that [Caeneus] kind of gets a few witty lines here and there. It’s hard to really put my finger on what it was that I connected to with him, but it just immediately felt like me, an extension of me, and a different life that I could have had, if I grew up in the world of Greek myth.

Each actor has their own process towards bringing a character to life on-screen. What did you do to ensure you could embody Caeneus’ story in KAOS?

I think both Charlie and Georgi [Banks-Davies], the director, were both actually so good at working with us, with fleshing out character, and finding the specific beats and points that will come out in the story. I worked really closely with Georgi on [Caeneus’] backstory with the Amazons and finding connection with that sort of community and also the relationship that has to his transness, because it’s such a nuanced story that I think Charlie does really well. I just love seeing [Erica Ruby Moss’] scenes, the person who plays young Caeneus, because it’s like watching memories that I never actually had.  

In a previous interview you said, “seeing people on screen just existing as lovers, as fighters, as fathers, sons, mothers, children, siblings, all of that, it makes you feel part of a wider whole.” When did this feeling set in for you while filming KAOS?

Honestly, my first day. We shot the scene on the bench with Riddy and it felt so real. It’s a coming out scene of sorts, and the way that it’s written, it just really reflected my experience of doing that, especially with someone you kind of fancy. I think that it’s just handled so beautifully that, if I was watching this, I would be so seen, feel so understood, and feel that my experiences are shared and allowed. I think that just really smacked me in the face when we did that scene. I also talked about that scene in another interview, and talked about how me and Charlie were in between takes sobbing around the corner because it just felt really, really important all of a sudden.

Actually, since the release, I’ve had quite a few comments online or people in person sharing really vulnerable stories about how much it’s meant to them because they themselves are trans or their loved one is trans. Just immeasurably important because I was that kid obsessed with these TV shows, trying to comb through online forums to find TV shows that might vaguely represent my experience and not really finding them, but finding them as close as I could get and latching on. So to be involved in something that might be bringing that sense of being seen to other people feels like such a privilege.

Connecting it back to TV shows that are also connected to Greek myths, like the queer-coded ‘90s shows Xena and Hercules, why do you think we’re able to explicitly show queerness and transness now, as opposed to having it go under the radar?

There’s obviously been such an incredible movement in the queer movement in so many different countries and spaces, and we’re seeing that have a big backlash as well, which is really difficult. It’s not to say that we’re in a worse place as well, but I think there’s always nuance to how much we can celebrate where we’re at. I think that that is a really good way of gauging how much we’ve achieved as a community. I think that what’s happening is that we’re seeing a lot of people in positions of power, like writers, showrunners, producers, and directors who are queer, female, people of color, all of these underrepresented identities start to find their holding, and that brings, I think, much more truth to these stories as well, not just using an actor to be like, “Oh, this is diversity.”

Speaking of Riddy and Caeneus, what do you hope people take away from watching their relationship unfold?

I think that what I really love about the story is that we see the classic love story, Orpheus and Eurydice. People throughout history have been idolizing [that love story] and I think what Charlie did amazingly is actually finally [give] Eurydice autonomy. We’ve seen the big hero, Orpheus, and his tragic arc where he doesn’t trust his wife enough and she has no say in anything. She’s just sort of a pawn that he can use to explore himself and to learn that he’s whoever he is. And I think what we see with her story, [which] is so poignant, we find her in that space where she is his muse and doesn’t feel like anything else, and only when she dies and meets someone who listens to her, who allows her to breathe, gives her the space that she deserves, and allows her to take control, that is when she realizes that she has the capacity to love and to feel so deeply. I think that’s just a really beautiful and important story to bring into romantic narratives. I think that sometimes we don’t romanticize certain types of dynamics because it’s too, I don’t know, sweet or nice. And actually, I think that that can leave us with this urge to seek out quite destructive and toxic dynamics. And I just sort of hope that Caeneus and Riddy are your unproblematic faves.

What can you say about season two?

Honestly, I have been asked by many, many people, and I can tell you so little because I’ve been told so little. I really want to know. I’m the big fan in the room, banging on Charlie’s door, being like, “When will we know? I need to know.” So, just so you know, I’m in the same boat as you. Let’s all make it happen, that’s all I’m saying. 

KAOS is streaming now on Netflix.

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