The New Legends of Monkey: characters


Luciane Buchanan as Tripitaka

Tripitaka is a sixteen-year-old girl who hides behind the identity of a boy monk. Tripitaka is resourceful, adventurous, idealistic, smart and as stubborn as an ox. Her pious appearance as a monk is a mask she must wear. However, it both protects her and stops her from being who she really is. She is constantly struggling with the fact that she has lied to Monkey and to the world by posing as the 'chosen one'. Raised in a library amongst the ancient tomes of her adopted father, the Scholar, Tripitaka has a theoretical understanding of the world that will be tested by experience. She will have to learn that life is not a book, that humans break rules more than they follow them — and that her new friends break them more than most.

Lonely and driven by a need to understand who she is, Tripitaka's deepest desire is to find her real parents. As her journey unfolds, there are hints that she may in fact be fulfilling her true destiny. But Tripitaka isn't sure that she wants to be special — she just wants to find her parents and her home.


Luciane Buchanan's first screen role was as comedian Billy T James' daughter Cherie in Peter Burger's biopic Billy. She has since gone on to perform in The Blue Rose, Power Rangers and, most recently, as core cast in two seasons of Filthy Rich playing the role of Kennedy Truebridge.

Luciane is of Tongan descent but was born in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Her early acting training was with Fiona Edgar as a student of TAPAC's Acting for Screen course and it was Fiona who introduced her to her current agent Gail Cowan. Luciane has recently completed studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Drama and Psychology at The University of Auckland.