Ask Alisha Boe about the gap between perception and reality and she goes straight to the dance floor.
“My friends will tell you I’m the one who drags everyone to the dance floor,” she tells 1883. “I like to dance till my knees hurt and I’m covered in sweat.”
Confidence, by her definition, lives in the same place. “Any time I go out with my girls, the windows are down, the music is loud, and you just feel like the city belongs to you. Or right now actually. All the time really.”
The girls come up again when she talks about the themes she returns to most, on screen and off. She’s currently filming the third season of Apple TV+’s The Buccaneers as Conchita, an American heiress held together by a messy, devoted circle of girlfriends, and the parallel isn’t lost on her.
“I’m so grateful for my female friendships. They are my chosen family and we’ve learned so much from each other. The years we’ve spent together and how much we’ve grown together is such an immense privilege. I am so lucky to have them.”
Her methods for staying grounded in an industry that never stops offering opinions are considerably less glamorous.
“Sleep. Sleep is so hard to master (for me). If I’m able to get seven hours every night, that’s a dream. Also drinking enough water. I have a two-litre water bottle I carry around that I’ve nicknamed ‘my little child.’ I feel very smug when I’m able to finish the water bottle. Basic needs like sleep and hydration can be overlooked when we’re oversaturated with information on wellness.”
There is also a new campaign. Boe has been named YSL Beauty’s global ambassador for Black Opium, fronting Pink Glaze, a strawberry-and-coffee edition of the 2014 fragrance that launches in August.
“I was so excited to join the YSL Beauty family,” she says. “I have been a fan of the scent for a while, so being the face of Black Opium felt like such an organic partnership.” Her read on the brand is more direct than the campaign copy: “The Black Opium girl is fun, daring, confident, and smells damn good walking into any room. Me and the vibe of Black Opium are one, babyyy.”
As for what comes next, she isn’t narrowing anything down. “I want to do anything that challenges me. I’d love to do an action movie, a comedy, and a romance next.”
