When Luciane Buchanan first got an email with an audition for the upcoming Apple TV series “Chief of War,” she was shocked that this was somehow the first she’d heard of the project.

“I was like, ‘what? They’re making a historical drama about Hawaii and Jason [Momoa] is making it for Apple TV? This seems fake almost in my mind,’” she says. “I never saw myself doing a historical drama or playing someone from history. Usually you see Queen Elizabeth in ‘The Crown’ and all those iterations. I just never thought that a big platform would be interested.”

The series, the first two episodes of which premiere on Friday, is a tentpole production from Apple TV+. Created by Momoa and Thomas Paʻa Sibbett and featuring a predominantly Polynesian cast, it’s a historical drama about the unification of the Hawaiian islands from an indigenous perspective. 

Buchanan, who broke out as Rose Larkin in the Netflix global hit “The Night Agent,” stars as Ka’ahumanu, an influential Hawaiian queen. She didn’t realize initially that she was going to be the lead actress in the show when she first started her audition process. 

“I was very in the dark about a lot of details until I booked the job, and they were like, ‘oh, she’s in every episode by the way,’” Buchanan says. “I had said to family and friends, ‘we’re shooting in Hawaii, come visit me. We can go do surf lessons.’ And then [when I realized the role] I said, ‘actually, no one visit me.’”

Buchanan, who is of Tongan and Scottish descent, had never read for a project that featured a mostly Polynesian cast. 

“Normally, that’s not the reality. On my other show, I was the only one,” she says. “That’s cool, it’s a completely different story, but turning up to set every day and having that camaraderie that we are all in this together, that was really beautiful. And I think the biggest impact from the show is that we’re introducing Hawaii to the world in a very different way. You mainly see the resorts or you might go hiking, but no one really looks into what existed before how it is today. We have things like Pearl Harbor, of course, but there is so much more. They were their own governing kingdoms, and the kingdoms were eight islands. Now, today it’s known as Hawaii as a whole. So I’m excited that the whole world will get to know these names.”

For the series’ big premiere in Hawaii, Buchanan decided to work with a Hawaiian designer from Kauaʻi, ​​Rocket Ahuna. 

“I have been stalking him on Instagram for years,” Buchanan says. “He throws these amazing runway shows, and I was like, ‘if ‘Chief’ ever has a premiere there, or I can work with him in some capacity, I really want to.’”

The custom look was inspired by her character, Kaʻahumanu. Ahuna chose the deep golden color as a nod to her regal status, and the constriction featured a knotted twist detail, referencing the styling of traditional pāʻū.

“The goal was to create something that felt like Kaʻahumanu herself wearing past traditions, referencing traditional Hawaiian stitching, but that felt reimagined for the present,” Buchanan says. “It was just so beautiful.”

The look, which was styled by Puna Joon, was paired with a lei hulu made by Enoka Phillips, created in the kamoe style and placed asymmetrically on Buchanan’s head, to give it a modern twist. 

Buchanan brought her Hawaiian language coach with her to the premiere, and was relieved she was happy with the final result. 

“This is the first time ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, the language of the native Hawaiians, is going to be on screen. When we got to speak it, it’s like singing. It’s like music,” Buchanan says. “When I took on this job, I noticed the big chunks of Hawaiian that I had to learn, and I was very nervous. But I had to really lean into it and go, ‘OK, this is not about me. This is about the story we’re trying to tell.’ And so knowing the importance of getting the language and the history of it almost being lost, that added another weight of responsibility of ‘we’ve got to do it in the best way that we can.’”