Michelle Buteau on Comedy and Authenticity in Survival of the Thickest

Creator, writer and actor Michelle Buteau and showrunner Danielle Sanchez-Witzel share their experience reutrning to the Netflix comedy series Survival of the Thickest for season 2. They were both thrilled at the opportunity to dig even deeper into its characters, Michelle’s character Mavis and to find even more comedy and laughs throughout the season.

Michelle admitted that whilst Mavis is someone who does respond to situations emotionally, she’s also someone who turns feelings into actions and this in turn created a lot of the narrative structure of season 2. The opening episodes see Mavis travel to Rome in pursuit of romance, and without giving away which things go, they saw it as an opportunity to broaden the scope and world of the show.

One of the storylines this season sees the character Khalil grappling with what it means to be creative and an artist, something Michelle has plenty of experience in as a comedian. However she shared the wisdom of how for her it’s about thinking what you’re going to do with setbacks and failures to the point where she feels fairly immune to it as a result.

Comedy has always been a central part of the show and it has always felt to the creative team behind it, to be a tool for exploring real emotions in its characters. They noted that comedy is how we process a lot in life and so it only feels right to do so for its characters.

Watch the full conversation below:

Q&A on Survival of the Thickest with Michelle Buteau (creator, writer, executive producer & actor) and Danielle Sanchez-Witzel (creatr, showrunner & executive producer).

Moderated by Mara Webster, In Creative Company. Mavis Beaumont, a plus-sized Black woman, is newly single and finds herself having to rebuild her life as a struggling stylist.