‘Renegade Nell’ tale of infamous 18th Century outlaw

Louisa Harland quickly discovered that caution should be used when trying to obtain something that is desperately wanted. That reality became clear for her when she was cast to play Nell Jackson in the new Disney+ series “Renegade Nell.”

Nell is a quick-witted and courageous young woman who finds herself framed for murder. This leads her to become the most notorious outlaw in 18^th Century England. When a magical spirit called Billy Blind appears, Nell realizes her destiny is bigger than she ever imagined.

All eight episodes in the first season debut on the streaming service on March 29.

“I’m so, so pleased that they gave me the opportunity to play Nell.  I didn’t know parts like this existed for women.  And everything about the character was a challenge for me, and that made it all the more exciting and fun.  It was just a real dream come true,” Harland says.

Harland – who admits that she didn’t even know how to ride a bike before going after the role – found herself faced with the acting job where she needed to be an expert when it came to riding horses, sword fighting and fighting. As if that wasn’t enough of a challenge, the Irish actress had to learn a Cockney accent.

“So, I had to learn how to ride a horse, which I love now.  And could definitely not throw a punch.  So, I have all these incredible skills now that will stay with me, hopefully,” Harland says. “Yeah, I have a lot to learn. So much to learn and it was so incredibly physical.

“It was an incredible experience.  James Emery, the fight director, and Melissa Humler, my stunt double, just incredible, incredible team. I would never have been able to get to where I was without them.”

Co-star Joely Richardson – who plays Lady Eularia Moggerhangar – points out Harland is being humble when she talks about how others made her look good with the physical elements. Richardson describes Harland as the “female Tom Cruise” because she could do every stunt.

Harland knows that having a female play an 18^th Century highwayperson goes against the norm. She is convinced the fresh approach will draw a very diverse audience to the series.

“I also think the women won’t just connect with this.  I think everybody will.  Like, every member of the family will connect with this.  It is really, really refreshing to see such strong, funny, flawed women portrayed on screen,” Harland says. “And I think a fabulous sign of our times. We have got right at the very center of this strong, powerful, and also really important vulnerable, you know, woman.

“She’s a woman.  She’s a man.  She’s everything.  She’s a shapeshifter of some sort.  But I think that goes on throughout the series. What’s so exciting about the writing is that each character is kind of iconic in its own right, but you’re absolutely right with all these, a very female-centric piece.”

The series that made Harland work so hard for the role she had coveted was written and created by BAFTA-award-winning writer Sally Wainwright (“Happy Valley).” Ben Taylor (“Sex Education”) is the executive producer and directed the initial two episodes.

It fell to Taylor to make the series exciting but keep it within the boundaries expected of a production for Disney+. Finding the proper tone was the focus of the first six months of preparation to film.

“Like most directors, you come in and say, I want it to be the darkest, the scariest, the most violent, version of anything you’ve ever seen. And it was just because that was there as a hook, in a way, in what Sally had written,” Taylor says. “But we obviously knew that we were doing it for this platform, and we were big fans of this platform. And we sort of knew the DNA of what we were trying to find.

“I think horror was always something that we knew we needed to set up right at the start, and the stakes being real, and quite extreme for Nell’s character. And yeah, we found a really happy balance. We got a really fantastic fight designer, whose instruction was to make it as spectacular and violent as possible, but with humor, and with improvisation, and it was always character-based rather than anything gratuitous.”

The team of actors who had to help make that vision work includes Harland, Frank Dillane, Alice Kremelberg, Ényì Okoronkwo, Jake Dunn, Bo Bragason, Nick Mohammed, Joely Richardson and Adrian Lester.

Harland got her professional acting start in 2017 when she was cast as Orla McCool, the eccentric cousin of Erin Quinn, in the situation comedy “Derry Girls.” Other credits include “Boys from County Hell,” “Bog Boys,” “Deceived” and “Harley and the Davidsons.”

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.