Misia Butler shared how his time as Caeneus in Netflix's Kaos helped him become more empowered as a trans man himself.
Within the world of Kaos, Caeneus was once a female Amazon but always knew they were a boy. Eventually, his mother helps send him away from their camp, whose people would kill him for the way he is.
Sadly, the Amazons eventually tracked down Caeneus and murdered him, as they saw his change of gender as nothing short of heresy.
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Misia Butler on Being an Empowered Trans Man and Taking on Caeneus' Story
In an exclusive interview with The Direct's Russ Milheim, Misia Butler, who plays Caeneus on Netflix's Kaos, shared how the newly reinvented trans character empowered him.
When asked how he relates to Caeneus' story, Butler shared that the role "spoke to [his] ability to be an empowered trans man:"
"I remember when I was a kid learning about it in school, and I had a specific teacher who, I think, knew what she was doing. She gave me this translation of this ancient text, and it was this character that was in that text being told that he wasn't good enough because he was born female and he shouldn't be fighting with the men, and then he defeats them all really easily. And I just felt really empowered by that as a story because it spoke to my ability to be an empowered trans man, basically."
In original Greek mythology, Caeneus was once a girl named Caenis. After having sex with Poseidon (or being raped by, depending on the telling), they were gifted by being turned into a man and given invulnerable.
In Kaos, the roots of that story are there but heavily changed.
When it came to the original myth, which is quite different, Butler admitted that they are "crazy familiar with it," perhaps even "a bit too much:"
"I was crazy familiar with it. I think I talked about myths, kind of going into it because it was something that I had been obsessed with for a long time. Actually, I was going to study it particularly. Myth was something that was always something I was obsessed with. So, I knew maybe a bit too much going into it. And [creator] Charlie [Covell] was like, we're doing our own spin. Let's let go of some of those old stories. But it was amazing because it could also inform it."
The actor then dove into why Kaos' take on Caeneus is so genius and perfect for the story they were telling:
"I think Charlie's just so intricate. We use all these different myths, and I think that's what's so satisfying for myth lovers like myself and also for people who don't really know the myths but have, like, heard little bits of Medusa or, you know, Hades... but also other myths, probably like Caeneus that they won't have heard of. And I think that, especially with Canaeus' story, weaving it with the Amazons, which I think is quite a familiar myth, just draws out for both of those myths more nuance and more exploration of the themes that they bring out."
Nearly all of Caeneus' scenes take place in the Underworld. There's nothing really exaggerated in the locale's design—in fact, it's rather understated in its black-and-white simplicity.
Butler made sure to praise how the show used "a lot of practical effects:"
"It had a lot of practical effects. And I think that translates really well. Obviously, there weren't three-headed dogs, but there were dogs that they then painted the other two heads onto. With The Frame, we were in this incredible location somewhere in central Spain, with this huge lake. We were just all looking at this part of the lake with the knowledge that The Frame was there and that we'd be going through it."
The actor did concede that when they explored The Nothing later in the show, it was "a bit more green screened:"
"And then obviously, with the kind of later on stuff that The Nothing and things, that was a bit more green screened. But it was, yeah, mostly practical, which I enjoyed. It felt more encompassing for us as actors to delve into."
One of the fun, practical effects that Butler got to perform was being able to walk on water as Caeneus guided people through The Frame.
"It was literally just a platform in the middle of the lake," Butler explained:
"It was literally just a platform in the middle of the lake. Just practically. It took quite a while for me and Aurora to shoot the scene where Riddy first runs out onto the lake. And, you know, she was incredible. She was in the middle of a mental breakdown as Riddy, and she was wearing a very small white dress, and she was just wet to the bone and somehow managed to keep her head. And I always think that's just an incredible feat for her."
He made sure to clarify that there were "a few men in wetsuits" who were "sort of holding our feet every time we got anywhere close [to the edge]."
Another big element of Caeneus' story is how he becomes romantically entangled with Aurora Perrineau's Riddy, better known as Eurydice in Greek Mythology.
Many know the iconic love story between Eurydice and Orpheus, but their tale unfolds very differently in Kaos. In fact, Caeneus is a key element in helping Riddy realize how disconnected she has been from her former lover.
In the original myth, "we don't get the perspective of [Riddy]," which is a shortcoming that Kaos takes and runs with:
"I think what Charlie [Covell] did with the Eurydice story is amazing, which just gives her a sense of autonomy as a character. I think that it's such an iconic love story, but we only ever get Orpheus' perspective, and we don't get the perspective of the woman who goes into the Underworld for whatever reason and is yanked back and then yanked back again. And I think that just making it her story allowed us to explore historically the romantic tropes that we perpetuate."
Explaining what he loves most about their love story in Kaos is how Riddy "finds herself falling for" someone who is not the "big classic hero" but rather "the person who listens:"
"What I love so much about the Canaeus and Riddy story is that the person that she finds herself falling for is not the big classic hero who does all these feet to get down to the Underworld for her. It's the person who listens and the person who respects her opinions and who allows her to be the person that she wants to be. And I just really felt really special to be a part of that."
On how the show has helped him grow as a performer, Butler noted that the experience has affected him "immeasurably:"
"Just immeasurably. There are so many ways in which I feel a lot more aware of the process and of exploring character. I think that Charlie's writing was just incredible for that. They were so good as well at working with you and working with the voices that they had and things. Both of the directors were also so different, but they were so facilitative."
Butler hopes that going forward, he can "maintain that level of confidence" while working on other projects:
"And for an actor, they just gave you so much space to dive into those moments, like the one I just mentioned, to find the depth of emotion and even levity and lightness. I think that they pushed me in a way that I felt I needed to be pushed, and they trusted me in a way that gave me a lot of confidence. I hope that I can maintain that level of confidence going forward into other jobs."
Kaos is now streaming on Netflix.
