Renegade Nell star Louisa Harland on joy of "gender non-conforming" character
"I love the fact that she's not romantically driven."
Get ready to enter the mystical world of Renegade Nell, as creator Sally Wainwright takes viewers on a wild ride with Nell Jackson (Louisa Harland), who is being framed for a crime she didn't commit.
Fans of Derry Girls will see Harland in a very different role, as Nell unexpectedly becomes "the most notorious highwaywoman in 18th century England", as she embarks on a mission to clear her name.
In a new interview about the series, Harland has opened up about her character, who viewers may have recognised isn't dressed in traditional clothing for a woman living in 18th century England.
"I love the fact that she's not romantically driven," Harland told Variety. "She's gender non-conforming to the times. She uses male disguises to get further ahead in life."
The fantasy series sees Nell on an adventure like no other as she travels through the English countryside and plenty of stately homes on a pursuit to find the truth about who is framing her.
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Being set in the 18th century, Harland previously explained that Wainwright was able to "re-write history", admitting it was "something lovely" to have in the new series.
In a Q&A – and warning, there are spoilers ahead now – Harland spoke about how Wainwright tackled difficult historical topics such as slavery in the series.
She explained: "With Ényì's [Okoronkwo] character, Rasselas, at the end we discover his true name. He didn't want to shy away from the fact that Rasselas was formerly a slave."
She continued: "I love the relationship between Rasselas and Sofia (Alice Kremelberg) and Thomas (Jake Dunn), just that dynamic (of the landed gentry vs the stable boy) and how they saw each other is just fascinating.
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"The nice thing about this world is I feel like it's a new world we’ve created, and apart from a throughline of historical accuracy, we can kind of do whatever we want.
"Sally, I think, is rewriting history a little bit, and that’s something lovely about the show."
Renegade Nell is coming to Disney Plus on Friday 29th March. Sign up to Disney Plus from £4.99 a month or £79.90 for a year.
Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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Authors
Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
