The actor opens up to L&rsquo;OFFICIEL about her character&rsquo;s most harrowing moments yet in Season 2, Episode 6.

Spoilers ahead for Season 2, Episode 6 of The Buccaneers.
Since season one of The Buccaneers, Imogen &ldquo;Immy&rdquo; Waterhouse has portrayed American nouveau riche daughter Virginia &ldquo;Jinny&rdquo; St. George. In that time, her character has gone from a party-loving debutante who would throw anyone&mdash;including her sister, Nan (Kristine Froseth)&mdash;under the bus in order to achieve her goal of marrying a powerful Englishman, to a victim of domestic violence who leaves her whole life behind in order to flee her cruel and controlling husband, Lord James Seadown (Barney Fishwick). It&rsquo;s a harrowing arc that finally comes to a head in this week&rsquo;s episode, &ldquo;Every Single Piece of My Heart,&rdquo; which picks up in the wake of the manipulative Seadown tracking down his runaway wife in Italy&mdash;and kidnapping their newborn son, Freddie.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Things have been building for a season and a half until this crescendo, and it all pops off in Episode 6,&rdquo; Waterhouse tells L&rsquo;OFFICIEL. &ldquo;Something big needed to happen to finalize this relationship. This was an amazing way to do it because you think, Okay, Jinny's free and it's going to be okay&mdash;and then you actually just can't believe it gets worse for her.&rdquo; 
What unfolds next in the Apple TV+ series allows Waterhouse to showcase her talent in a heartbreaking montage after Seadown has Jinny institutionalized against her will. It&rsquo;s a visceral portrayal of just how little autonomy women had in the 1870s. &ldquo;It's such an intensely scary prospect of what can happen to a Victorian woman,&rdquo; says Waterhouse. &ldquo;Like, hysteria will get you a lobotomy. And hysteria is just considered being a bit emotional, just having normal human emotions.&rdquo;

Photography courtesy of Apple TV+.

Although Jinny doesn&rsquo;t face quite as drastic a fate, she does find herself locked away in solitary confinement under forced psychiatric care, with Seadown refusing her visitors as the mental institution's staff plies her with drugs and ignores her pleas for help. Even as she breaks down in isolation, she&rsquo;s determined to break free of the asylum and return to her son. &ldquo;We actually see her kind of fight back a bit for the first time, because she's not fighting just herself anymore,&rdquo; says Waterhouse, adding that it was one of her favorite scenes to shoot. "To perform that is amazing, so I was like, Fuck yeah, this is cool. It was just me and the cameraman, and the director put on some heavy metal music&mdash;she wanted me to listen to a song that made me really angry&mdash;and then I just got to scream and cry and destroy everything, like a rage room. It was a great feeling, and I think it released something inside of me; I might need to do that more often.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Eventually, Jinny plays into Seadown&rsquo;s hand in order to be released and get back to Freddie. But after her husband imprisons her in a remote family estate, an attempt at rescue turns violent, ending with Seadown murdering his brother, Richard &ldquo;Dick&rdquo; Marable (Josh Dylan), and a despondent Jinny walking all the way back to London, barefoot in her nightgown. It&rsquo;s a sad scene, but one that, to Waterhouse, is also tinged with hope. &ldquo;Obviously there's a lot of collateral damage with sweet Dick, who's one of my favorite characters, but after all that goes down in this episode, this is like Jinny&rsquo;s beginning,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;Now she can really be who she is and start new.&rdquo;
Ahead, Waterhouse opens up about all things The Buccaneers, her fashion evolution, and directing music videos for her sister, actor and singer Suki Waterhouse.

Photography by Maddi Jean Waterhouse, courtesy of Immy Waterhouse.

L&rsquo;O: What do you make of Jinny&rsquo;s evolution from Season 1 to Season 2 of The Buccaneers?&nbsp;
IW: When we first met her, she had a real goal [of meeting a suitor in London], which had been pushed on her so heavily by her mom and society. She made some mistakes in order to get to that goal. In Season 1, she's with Seadown, who's horrible. I think she really loses sight of herself, and her joy, and her spark; she becomes so afraid of making him angry and does everything to pander to him. Then in Season 2, we get a glimpse of her in this new chapter, with her baby and Guy [Matthew Broome], who's like the world&rsquo;s best platonic father. She finally has a chance to breathe and see who she is, although I don&rsquo;t think she really knows who she is. It was fun to be able to have a bit of lightness within it all&mdash;but under all that, she's still battling these thoughts of, Am I going to live here forever? There's still this underlying anxiety, and it's quite a journey.
L&rsquo;O: Much of Jinny&rsquo;s storyline this season was set in Italy, separate from the majority of the cast. Did being siloed off affect your performance?
IW: In Season 1, almost all of our scenes were together, which is obviously a lot of fun, but it's also a lot more time-consuming to do everyone's coverage for each scene. And there were usually these big balls, so by, like, day six of a ball, everyone goes slightly insane. It was refreshing to do these smaller scenes with Guy and Paloma [Grace Ambrose], and then Seadown. We also filmed in Croatia, which is like heaven&mdash;not the worst place to work. Then I went back to join the girlies, and it was like no time had passed at all. Back to the balls. 
L&rsquo;O: What was the biggest challenge for you this season?
IW: There's a lot of stuff that we don't get to see onscreen&mdash;including a lot of Jinny&rsquo;s decision-making, like why she goes back to Seadown. I think [the biggest challenge] was having Jinny justify doing that in a way that the audience could&mdash;if not understand&mdash;then at least kind of get. She has such a quick change of heart when she's about to leave Italy with Seadown, and then suddenly Guy&rsquo;s like, Don't do this. That was quite a challenging scene to be like, What is it, in this moment, that makes her realize? Justifying why she did certain things was hard, but hopefully in a way that people would understand where she's coming from.

L&rsquo;O: At times, Jinny has come off as the opposite of a girl&rsquo;s girl&mdash;but after learning the underlying nature of her relationship, why do you think it&rsquo;s important that she&rsquo;s seen as a survivor above all else?&nbsp;
IW: Initially, you have this very tight friendship group&mdash;and I think a lot of pressure was put on her when she was growing up. It was like, You're going to be the one to marry and do all of this. I mean, [she and Nan] both had the pressure, but she felt it more. I think getting married was a real lifeline for her that felt like, This is how I succeed. This is my gold star. She lost sight of everything surrounding that and sacrificed some of her friendships because she thought, Without this, I'm nothing; I have no status and I've got no future. When we're young, we can all do stuff that's quite self-serving. Now, she definitely has matured, and I think she realizes what's important and the gravity of her female friendships.&nbsp;
L&rsquo;O: How do you think the show manages to tackle serious subjects while also weaving in glamorous dance parties and lighter, fun moments of friendship?
IW: I mean this season especially, there's so much going on and so many separate plot lines. All the girls are on their own journeys, and I only really knew Jinny's story until I watched it, because she's much in her own thing. I do think it could go darker, honestly [laughs]. But I think it's a nice mix. Even if you're not that into one character, you can kind of pick your Pok&eacute;mon of who you root for in the show.

L&rsquo;O: With the show appealing to a younger audience, what do you hope viewers take away from Jinny&rsquo;s journey&mdash;especially those who might see parts of themselves in her?
IW: There are many things you can take away, but I think what's really vital with those relationships&mdash;and what a lot of people don't do when they're in those relationships&mdash;is talk to their friends about what's going on, so they have nothing to reflect their or their partner's behavior off of. That's when you can really just get in your own thoughts and have someone manipulate you. We're all so afraid and careful to protect our relationships, because we want people to know that we're in a really happy relationship, but it's actually vital to voice things to your friends. Obviously this is an extreme version, because it&rsquo;s a coercive relationship, but even with a nice [healthy] relationship, it's important to talk about the bad things, as well.
L&rsquo;O: Do you ever wade into online commentary and see what people are saying about the show?
IW: A little bit. I've waded at my own peril. I've waded, and then quickly waded out because it&rsquo;s like, Actually, I didn't need to see that. I have looked at a few comments, and Jinny really divides people. Some people really see her and get her and have empathy for her, and some people are really quite unforgiving. And that&rsquo;s interesting, because I get it. She rubs the wrong way in Season 1, for sure. It'll be interesting to see what happens this season, because I think Jinny is quite an obstacle for what the audience wants&mdash;because they want Guy and Nan together, and I'm just constantly blocking that. So, we'll see what they think of her now, especially once Richard's dead. Although obviously, it's not her fault; it's Seadown&rsquo;s.

L&rsquo;O: What do you hope for Jinny, looking ahead? 
IW: I hope she takes a little time for herself. I kind of want her and Conchita [Dick&rsquo;s widow, played by Alisha Boe] to start a commune with their babies. I want her to find hobbies and passions and really figure out who she is, and to raise her son in a natural way. I just want her to connect to her spirit a bit more and figure out what brings her joy. And I do think she should just chill on men for a bit. I think she needs some time for herself before she finds someone that treats her right.
L&rsquo;O: The characters on the show famously have modern attitudes, despite their 1870s setting and, of course, outfits. Are you into the period fashion and wearing corsets?&nbsp;
IW: It's actually really not fun, at all. But I am into the corset and the bloomers, under the big dresses. Whenever I'm half-dressed, I'm like, That's quite sexy. Once all the layers go on, it&rsquo;s like, I've never felt so tight and repressed. It loses its novelty very quickly. But the costumes are amazing, and it definitely helps put you in that mindset, because you are literally, like, buckled in. And weeing is a nightmare.
L&rsquo;O: How would you describe your own style and how its evolved?&nbsp;
IW: I literally wear tracksuits like 90 percent of the time. So I don't know what I would have done as a Victorian girl&mdash;I would have been the worst. I feel like I'm a slightly elevated Adam Sandler&mdash;or on a good day, Adam Sandler meets Mary-Kate and Ashley [Olsen]; but most days, just Adam Sandler. I'm always erring on the side of casual, for sure. I just love being comfortable. When I do have to go all out and get my hair and makeup done, I&rsquo;m like, Who is this? Because I don&rsquo;t know her. But when I tap into my femininity a bit more, I love wearing Miu Miu and Chloe. And The Row is great. It&rsquo;s fun to work with a stylist and get to reinvent casualness in a really chic way.

L&rsquo;O: Growing up, did you and your sister, Suki, share clothes?&nbsp;
IW: We had this one giant yellow t-shirt that had the sports number eight on it, and we would fight over that. We're obsessed with that shirt and then we'd wear those trousers that make a sound when you walk. That was our uniform. As we got a bit older, I would definitely poach some things from the wardrobe, as you do with an older sister. I think they always hit &ldquo;fashionable&rdquo; a bit earlier. Suki's, like, a big feather boa girl&mdash;she loves ruffles, and sometimes she wears stuff and it&rsquo;s like, Oh my god, I could never. Now, I actually ask my little sister [Maddi] for fashion advice, because she's definitely the coolest. Before I go out, I just need to get the Gen-Z approval. But I think at our core, we're all quite grungy girls.
L&rsquo;O: I know you&rsquo;ve directed some of Suki's music videos, including her most recent one, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwJr9oXbsFo">"On This Love,"</a> that debuted in May. What&rsquo;s it like to work together in that capacity?&nbsp;
IW: It's just so easy. We can literally just be lying in bed, bouncing around ideas. And we can also be brutally honest. When we're on set, I can just push her to do things that other people might not feel comfortable&mdash;like when she was freezing in the pool [while shooting the video for &ldquo;On This Love&rdquo;], she was like, I'm freezing, can I get out? and I was like, No, we're running out of time&mdash;stay in the pool. [laughs] It's a really nice dynamic, and we&rsquo;ll always send ideas or concepts or songs to each other first, and we have a nice and honest reaction to it. 
L&rsquo;O: What are you manifesting for yourself next?
IW: I want to pursue directing a bit more, because it really energizes me. And I love working with actors, because I know what it&rsquo;s like to be on both sides of the camera, so I have sympathy for being in front of it. I'm also trying to write something&mdash;I feel like in this day and age, if you want to make something, you&rsquo;ve just got to write it and do it yourself. And I think there's an amazing power in that. Otherwise, I'm honestly just leaving it to the gods.

Immy Waterhouse Says 'The Buccaneers' Could 'Go Darker' After Pivotal Season 2 Episode

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