Michelle Buteau And Amy Aniobi Reflect On The Final Season Of ‘Survival Of The Thickest’

If there were ever a series that truly promotes self-love, Netflix’s Survival of the Thickest is it. Created by and starring Michelle Buteau, the show has become a rare comedy willing to let a plus-size Black woman choose herself without apology. Through Mavis Beaumont, viewers have watched a stylist rebuild after heartbreak, chase bigger career opportunities, and make decisions that may be messy, but always belong to her.

Now, in the weeks leading up to the show’s third and final season, Buteau is looking at Beaumont with a sense of gratitude. “Mavis is the adult that I’ve always wanted to be,” she tells ESSENCE. “She’s the woman I always wanted to be.” For Buteau, the character became a way to revisit pieces of her own life and turn them into something useful. Not just for laughs, but for anyone who needed to see a woman that reminds so many viewers of themselves.

I spoke with Buteau and showrunner Amy Aniobi in Miami during the American Black Film Festival, a fitting place for a conversation about community and visibility. Both women described the event as a space where Black creatives are seen in a way the larger industry does not always allow. “We work on a show that celebrates joy and so does ABFF,” Aniobi says.

For the final season, Aniobi says the goal was to honor Buteau’s real story while giving the show’s lead character a proper send-off. In our conversation, Buteau and Aniobi spoke about ending the series, protecting the show’s humor, and why Mavis Beaumont still feels like somebody worth rooting for.

ESSENCE: How does it feel to be at the American Black Film Festival this year? What does that mean to you?

Michelle Buteau: It’s iconic.

Amy Aniobi: That’s exactly the word.

MB: I’ve always wanted to come here, and what a great time to come here because how many black festivals are there? Looking us up, celebrating us, showcasing us, creating us together. So this is it. You show up and show out and it’s so needed. There has to be just more of it, more funding, more everything—this is a big deal.

AA: It’s really important to be in community and to be celebrated and seen by people who look like you and feel for the same causes that you feel. And we work on a show that celebrates joy and so does ABFF, hand in hand.

Amy, what did you hope to accomplish with this being the final season of Survival of the Thickest? What did you want to accomplish storyline-wise?

AA: I love that question. Honestly, Michelle has always said that every season is a love letter and this final season was a love letter to Michelle to make this. And my goal was to make sure that we’re honoring Michelle’s story, her real life, and actually showing the hard, the good, all the bits, because that’s what makes a relatable story. The more specific you get, actually, the more universal the story becomes. And I think that’s one of the brilliant things about Survival of the Thickest is that it’s Michelle’s life, but it resonates with so many.

So when you look back at Mavis’s journey, what are you most proud of? 

MB: It’s hard to talk about Mavis and not talk about me. Mavis is the adult that I’ve always wanted to be. She’s the woman I always wanted to be. She’s saying the things in those circumstances and situations that we all wish we could say to an ex. That’s all. Again, I’m going back to this love letter because it’s like a “thank you for helping me, for guiding me, for keeping me together.” And by that I mean my experiences, my stories, the storytelling and then the people that help me facilitate those stories. It’s also having the ability to live through some shit, talk about that stuff and then have people help me put that in a funnel for entertainment, but also an education through love.

Michelle, you said that Mavis is “the adult that you want to be.” How far away from you from reaching the goal of being Mavis?

MB: Well, I’m going to be 49 and Mavis just turned 39—so lies and deceit. (Laughs.) No, but really, I thought it was so important to have a plus size woman of color in her late 30s make decisions for herself against not only the odds, but what her family is saying, what her friends are saying, and what society’s telling her. She’s still choosing herself, self-love, and being perseverant. I’m definitely there, and I can only have done that if I had gotten there.

Amy, one of the strongest themes of the show is the portrayal of friendship. Why has that been so important?

AA: It goes back to why we’re here at ABFF. It’s to celebrate community. And when you have a tribe that is supporting you through the things you go through, it makes the high sweeter, and the lows less bad. It’s something that we’ve said in the room so many times that it’s called Survival of the Thickest. And yes, it’s a play on women’s curves, of course, but it’s also like the thick shape you go through and then surviving with your thick tribe.

MB: Yeah, thick skin.

AA: Exactly. It’s all of it. So that theme, every episode we’re always going back to not only how does Mavis feel about something, but how does it impact the friends? How did the friends come through for her and how important it is to show that, especially in a straight man, straight female friendship and then queer friends, trans friends. There are just so many different types of people depicted on this show and when we show up for each other, we all win.

What’s the collaborative process like between you two when you guys are coming up with ideas and themes for episodes?

MB: It’s me fully just taking over her life. (Laughs.)

AA: Whatever form of media you’ve heard of, she’ll contact me on.

MB: Computer, three eyed raven, taking pictures. There’s no time zone.

AA: The thing for me is that whatever the best way is to get the idea out, that’s how it happens. When I’m collaborating with someone, I never want them to feel limited with how they can…

MB: …start the process.

AA: Yes, exactly! Even if I can’t process something in real time, I can catalog it for later. My Virgo brain is always like, “You said this on June 14th.” (Laughs.)

MB: Yes, true, because she speaks TV. She’s a director, she’s a writer, she’s a showrunner. I’m a standup comic and a host, and there are a Costco-sized amount of feelings and ideas for a show. And so when I constantly tell her I would love to see this and I want to make this happen, can they do this and this—she will beautifully like figure out how to funnel that into like TV world and then bring it to the room and they figure out how we can layer it and put it in the show. So it’s such a beautiful process.

The post Michelle Buteau And Amy Aniobi Reflect On The Final Season Of ‘Survival Of The Thickest’ appeared first on Essence.