Mayor of Kingstown Season 3 is upon us, and fans are eagerly waiting to see how the McLusky clan and the people of Kingstown fare as the story takes a new turn. Jeremy Renner is the lead star of the story, based on a town whose main occupation is incarceration. But other than Renner, other cast members and their stories are equally important to the show’s progress.
Tobi Bamtefa, who plays Bunny in Mayor of Kingstown, is one of the more popular characters from the show. This portrayal of the fan-favorite character has given Bamtefa a platform to showcase his skill better, and wow people with his talent.
Mayor of Kingstown Star Tobi Bamtefa Talks About America’s Prison System
As a theatre actor, it comes as no surprise that Tobi Bamtefa likes to study his characters, their backgrounds, their ambitions, and their thought process. So to play Bunny, the Mayor of Kingstown star had a similar process. He not only tries to understand his character but also his motivations, and how a character like his gets affected by being part of a place like Kingstown and the prison, as well as other characters around him.
Speaking to LRM Online, Bamtefa spoke of what it was that shocked him while he was preparing for the show while trying to understand the character of Bunny:
So I watched ’13’, and from that, I understood that technically, slavery… is made legal by way of incarceration. In some states, I think, it’s the amendments, don’t quote me on this, but it says that if you have committed a crime you are now property of state, which is a technical term for slavery.
Given crime and punishment and incarceration form the whole basis of the show, it is safe to say that the British-Nigerian actor has a pretty good grasp of it all. The exploitation of those incarcerated in prisons is front and center of the story as the show moves forward.
Tobi Bamtefa Took Jeremy Renner’s Words “to heart”
Jeremy Renner is at the heart of Mayor of Kingstown. His lead role as the head of the McLusky clan, Mike, is as grey as it gets. Instead of being good or bad, the show tries to give its audience as many real characters as it can. Mike and Bunny are as close to friends as it gets in a town like theirs. But what about Tobi Bamtefa and Jeremy Renner? Speaking to blackfilmandtv, Bamfeta only had positive affirmations about the Hawkeye actor.
The think about working with Jeremy is that he is Jeremy, it’s Jeremy Renner. So he is already coming in on that level. He’s done his work, he’s done his research… He’s so talented but it almost looks effortless, so you have to be prepared to meet him at that level, and be able to bounce off.
In another conversation on Kyle Meredith with… Bamtefa remembered a conversation he had with his co-star very early on in their professional relationship, and how he took Renner’s words to heart.
I remember in Season 1, I did ask Jeremy, I asked him what his process was. He said it quite bluntly: ‘I focus on the truth of the scene.’ And I took that to heart; I took that and ran with it.
To see more of Mike and Bunny, you have to wait till June 3, when season 3 of Mayor of Kingstown premiers on Paramount+. The first two seasons of the show are already streaming.
