With her breakout role as Lizzy Elmsworth in Apple TV+’s “The Buccaneers”, Aubri Ibrag has caught our attention with a performance that feels both tender and fierce. Over two seasons, we’ve watched Lizzy’s journey from a shy debutante navigating London society to a young woman unafraid to make mistakes, fight for love, and claim her own voice. Much like her character, Aubri herself reflects on growth, resilience, and the importance of identity, bringing a mix of honesty and warmth to our lovely chat.

In this conversation, she opens up about the challenges of stepping onto set for the first time, the rebellious streak she shares with the Buccaneers, and why freedom and self-discovery matter more to her than anything else.

What’s your first cinema memory?

My first cinema memory was when I was 13 and I went to the cinema for the first time. I watched “Avatar” in 3D with my mum. I remember that it was an insane experience because in 3D, everything just keeps coming at you, so I remember that vividly. Mind-blowing.

Speaking of “The Buccaneers”, looking back at season one, what was your first impression of your character when you read the script? And how has that perception changed by the end of season two? Could you imagine that your character’s life could go through so many changes?

I think my first perception of Lizzy was that she was just a very shy person, especially at the beginning of season one. She and the girls just came from New York to London to find themselves husbands and stuff, and I think Lizzie was quite intimidated by this whole new world. In season one, she put herself out there, but she was sexually violated, which made her even more retreat into herself and take herself away from that world.

I think it’s nice to see her in season two being braver and more participating, throwing herself out there more. It’s just nice to see her pursuing love and pursuing her own self-interest, as opposed to just being scared of everything and being really shy. It’s really nice to see that character arc, from being timid and shy to standing up for herself and making mistakes and being messy and not being the “perfect woman” that she’s always tried to be as a young debutante in season one.

“It’s really nice to see that character arc, from being timid and shy to standing up for herself and making mistakes and being messy and not being the “perfect woman” that she’s always tried to be as a young debutante…”

And if season two Aubri could give season one Aubri a piece of advice, what would it be?

I would just say to her, “Don’t be scared”.

I remember just being really overwhelmed by the size of the set and, obviously, I’m working with such talented actors and directors and costume designers. I remember feeling as almost parallel to Lizzy in season one – season one Aubri was like, kind of really shy and really intimidated by this whole new set. But I think season two Aubri had a bit more bravery – I had more fun.

And which moment in the show made you think, “Oh, wow, this is why I became an actress?”

I think whenever we do scenes where you get taken away by the story and stuff. I remember for me in season one, that was my scene with Guy [Remmers], on the kitchen floor, when Lizzy was opening up for the first time. I remember feeling so much in that scene. My logical brain almost blacked out, in that moment, and my creative brain was overtaking and I didn’t know what was happening. I think it was just such a beautiful moment when two people who act share a really good scene.

And then in season two, I would say it would be the scene with Theo and Lizzy at the wedding. I remember Guy, who plays Theo, making that speech to me, making me super emotional because what he was saying is, “You deserve a whole love, don’t settle for anything else, don’t settle for someone just because they’re the first person that you come across, wait until amazing love comes along because you deserve that”. Hearing that just made me super emotional, because it’s right, we all deserve a love that is incredible and passionate and not settling for something that’s just there.

“We all deserve a love that is incredible and passionate and not settling for something that’s just there”

At the end of this last season, Nan says to your character, “We were supposed to be the love story”, referring to the group of girls. How do you feel about this line? Have you ever experienced a friendship or friendships that are as strong as to feel like family?

Yeah, definitely. I’ve definitely experienced very strong, intense friendships. Sometimes, I’m the type of person who only needs one friend. And that one friend is almost like the only friend I need, like we are attached at the hip all the time. And I do understand that line because the girls in “The Buccaneers” were like that all the time, they were the first people to call each other when they woke up. I think, in a sense, that is what the heart of the show is.

In this season, we explored very real parts of female friendship, where once everyone gets married, and goes on with their lives, and has babies and stuff, sometimes friendships do drift apart. And I think that’s very natural, normal to happen in real life as well. But I think with Nan and Lizzie, obviously, it’s a lot more, it’s a lot deeper, because there’s betrayal, there’s hurt, and it’s really unfortunate that they are in this place, that is not necessarily a good place at the end of the season, they are in a fight. However, I think I see them in some time making their way back into the sisterhood that they shared at the beginning, because when you have a really intense friendship with someone, you’ll always come back, they’ll always come back around – just because you have a fight doesn’t mean that it’s over, people need time to process.

Yeah, absolutely. The thing that I probably like the most about “The Buccaneers” is that every character has a unique and powerful story. Do you have a favourite one? And by favourite, I mean, someone you can kind of relate to?

I would say my favourite storyline was probably Jinny’s storyline this season, because she got to scream in an asylum and get taken away. And I think she did such an incredible job. Those are honestly some of my favourite scenes to like watch as well, also because it’s so gritty. You know, the themes our show normally sort of explores are love triangles and stuff like that, but the bit in this is a lot darker, and I think it’s just really interesting to watch. 

The costumes as well are so important that they almost become characters in the show. If you could sneak one home without anyone noticing, which one would it be?

It would be my wedding dress. I remember wearing it and just running down the steps as a runaway bride. It felt like it should be my wedding dress in real life, if that makes sense. Maybe Kate [Carin], the costume designer, will let me borrow it, or I’ll just have to steal it when I get married.

If your character had access to Instagram today, what would her bio say?

Oh, let’s see… She says to Hector, “My favourite things are a book, a bath, and a large bowl of food, no cutlery” – so, I think the bio would be something like “Book, bath, large bowl of food, no cutlery” [laughs]. If she was supposed to post a photo or something, that would be a dump with a book and a bath. But I don’t think she would be someone who posts a lot on Instagram, I don’t think she would post selfies. I think she would just post pictures of nature and the books that she’s reading and her food because she’s a bit insecure about her appearance.

“Book, bath, large bowl of food, no cutlery”

And what kind of book would she read?

She would definitely be a really big fan of “Pride and Prejudice” or “The Notebook”.

And what’s a tiny, maybe even silly behind the scenes detail that fans would never guess?

I would just fall over a lot! [laughs]

I remember there was one scene where I say to Theo, “She knows”, referring to Nan knowing about our affair, and then Nan is right there, and I ran up the steps and I fell down, I literally tumbled down! Then I had to fill out a whole accident form and I was like, “You guys are being so dramatic” [laughs]. It was really embarrassing because I was so in my “actor zone” and then I just fell down the stairs. Then, half an hour later, we start filming the scene again and I’m drinking a coffee, and I spill it all over my costume! They had to take me in and clean all the clothes. Basically, I just wasted everyone’s time on set that day.

The clumsiness, was it because of the dress or the shoes?

I think it’s honestly because I was just being too much, I was jumping up and down and I’m clumsy. Or because of the corsets as well, because I’m not used to walking in that way, so every single day I fell.

Fair enough!

On another note, the show explores very important themes like freedom, love and identity. Which of these themes resonates most with you personally and why?

I think identity and freedom for sure right now, in where I am in life, just because I think I hate being told what to do or how to dress or how to behave.

I don’t like when people criticize you, I think it’s stupid. It brings me back to my school days when you have casual clothes day and everyone’s judging what you’re wearing.

I’m finally in a place in my life where I feel quite confident in my identity and I feel quite confident with who I am, whereas that wasn’t always the case. It took me a long time to get here. I think freedom feeds into identity because if you have the freedom to explore and be curious about the world and be yourself and explore parts of yourself, then it almost shapes your identity. I think having a very strong identity is a very important thing before you fall in love with someone. Some of the girls in our show, they fall in love before they even know who they are, which I think leads to a lot of confusion and heartbreak and drama. I think if everybody was quite confident in who they are first and then fell in love, it would just result in much healthier relationships.

“I think freedom feeds into identity because if you have the freedom to explore and be curious about the world and be yourself and explore parts of yourself, then it almost shapes your identity.”

And if you could or if you had to summarise season two in three words, what would these words be?

I would say fiery, unexpected and chaotic.

Perfect. And going back to what we were saying about the series tackling important themes… The show is also about women finding out that they do have and can have a voice. Which is also a very current topic of interest. I mean, things have changed compared to a while ago, but there’s still a lot that we need to work on. For which purpose or for which cause, perhaps in the future or even right now, you’d like to use your own voice?

There are so many things growing up that I would have a lot of empathy for. For example, I always wanted to open a dog shelter and stop dogs from being abused by their owners. I would love to like change that because they are innocent and so loyal, and I don’t think dogs or any animal deserves to be abused or to be mistreated by their owners.

And then I would love to eventually use my voice for children’s rights and orphans. When I see things online about it, it gets me like really angry or, fired up and passionate. So, I think I’d love to either volunteer or do something like that in the future for dogs and children.

It’s a really beautiful thought. Was there a moment in season two when you had to stop and think, “Okay, my character would totally do this, but I would never”?

I think when she decides to sleep with her best friend’s husband – that is not something that I would personally do in my life ever. I don’t judge her for it, I try to understand and approach Lizzie from a place of like empathy and understanding, but that’s something that I probably wouldn’t do.

When people finish watching season two, what’s the one feeling that you hope they’re left with?

Hopefully anticipation. I would like them to be impatient to see what’s next in the story. Anyway, I hope they just feel something, whether that’s like heartbreak or love or just passion. I think the storytelling is all about making someone feel something, and if we did that with this season at any point, then I think we did our job.

What do you think could happen in the future?

Well, Lizzie will have to make a decision about whether to tell Theo about Nan’s baby or to not tell him, which is quite a complicated decision. It’s just such a complicated place where Nan left Lizzie, and I honestly hope they somehow work it out so that everyone’s happy. And I hope to see more of the girls all hanging out together and having more of that sisterly relationship that they shared in the beginning of our show.

Also, I really like that the show is set in 1870, but it has a modern soundtrack. Which of the tracks do you think could describe this very moment of your life?

Maybe “Good Luck Babe” by Chapell Roan. Just because I feel like I’m doing like quite a few auditions and stuff, and I just need luck.

Right!
“The Buccaneers” is also all about shaking up high society. What’s the most rebellious thing you did in your life?

I went to boarding school and I remember I ended up being not really expelled, but just advised to leave just because I had trouble following the rules that didn’t make sense to me. For instance, we had school uniform, and we weren’t allowed to wear jackets over it, even if we were cold. That rule just made no sense to me! So, I used to refuse to follow certain rules and sometimes I would be kicked off the grounds.

I feel like that’s the rebellious spirit that the girls have in the show, especially in season one. As American girls, they don’t understand the English rules that don’t really make sense to us.

And what’s your biggest fear instead?

Probably ending up alone. I think that’s a pretty valid one.

What is the latest movie or TV show that you’ve watched and that has stayed with you for a while?

I’ve recently watched “Dune”.

I’ve always resisted the of sci-fi genre, but I’ve made myself watch it because it all seemed too complicated for me to understand. I’m much more into romance films that feel comfortable to me, but I watched “Dune”, and it actually weirdly made so much sense. Even though it is fantastical and it’s sci-fi, I feel like we can relate a lot of it to what’s going to happen in like politics and people trying to take power and stuff like that. So, I think it kind of blew my mind in that sense. I think it also kind of scared me because of AI and the “war of the machines” happening in the real world – I thought, “What if AI gets to a point where they just start a war against us?”. So that really scared me and stayed with me.

If you could choose what to see outside the window, like right now and forever, what would it be?

I think what I have right now outside the window is pretty great.

I live really high up, I see all of London basically. Maybe I’d love to see a little sun in this fog, but other than that, I just love looking over all of London, it makes me feel quite small. You know, when you’re on a cliff and you’re looking over everything, that’s kind of how I feel and it’s quite grounding and calming.

You actors always have to deep dive into other worlds that are anything like yours, and learn new things about human beings and human nature by wearing the shoes of someone else. What is the latest thing that you discovered about yourself thanks to your job?

I realised I’m a lot more confident than I thought I was, and I’ve got a lot more of a sense of who I am than I thought. Recently I’ve been playing a few different characters in auditions and stuff that have a lot more grit, anger and a fiery side. I think I’ve discovered that side in myself through script work and doing scenes.

You know, I deliberately started going out on my own, having dinner, drinking in bars, just sitting down and just being. Maybe someone talks to me, or I talk to someone, and every time I meet the most fascinating people, and I come back feeling so invigorated. That’s now my favorite thing to do, while a year ago it would have been my biggest fear, I would never do that.

This is so inspiring.
The latest person or event that made you smile?

Maybe my housemate, Sky! We always have a good time – I live with my best friend! Just put two girls in an apartment and it’s chaos, in the best way possible! [laughs]

What does it mean to you to feel comfortable in your own skin?

I think it means not being concerned with how you appear to other people, physically or personality-wise. It means being unapologetically yourself and not being concerned about how people perceive that or if they misread that. It also means not taking yourself too seriously, that’s the key.

What is your happy place?

My apartment! I love it, that’s why I never leave [laughs]. I’ve got everything I need, I’ve got my piano, my TV, my food, Audrey Hepburn on my wall, my bed and my blankets, a collection of stuffed toys. When I’m in my apartment, I feel very calm and at peace.

I love the home that I’ve built.

Photos & Video by Johnny Carrano.

Styling by Ilaria Di Gasparro.

Makeup by Sofia Caspani.

Hair by Camilla Oldani.

Thanks to Imprint.