Disney has a new hero in Renegade Nell. Derry Girls‘ Louisa Harland anchors the series as the titular Nell Jackson (not Nellie!), whose sudden superpowers gifted to her by the magical spirit Billy Blind (Ted Lasso‘s Nick Mohammed) make her everyone’s prime target.
Be they friend or foe, Nell leaves everyone in awe of her strength and skill — things she must put to good use when she’s framed for murder and goes on the run to prove her innocence and protect her family. Co-starring in the series created by Sally Wainwright, the mind behind Happy Valley and Gentleman Jack, are Joely Richardson as Lady Eularia Moggerhanger and Alice Kremelberg as Sofia Wilmot. Eularia is more obsessed with Nell, whereas Sofia is her green-with-envy nemesis.
“Sofia would be incredibly jealous that she has this power. She’s never seen anyone do anything like this,” Kremelberg tells TV Insider above. Sofia’s voice is stifled by her family. Seeing Nell’s independence and unapologetic nature is bewildering for this adversary and only makes Sofia hate Nell more.
“She gets met with this person who has this incredible strength and power,” Kremelberg explains. “As a real human I’m so in awe of Louisa, and as a character I’m like, ‘Why can’t I do that?’”
Richardson, whose character she praises as being “completely over the top” and a role unlike anything she’s done before, says everyone in Renegade Nell is “looking for power.” “You [Nell] have it, and it bothers the hell out of me,” she teases.
Nell is from a lower social class from Eularia and Sofia, Harland explains. “What power feels to her” is worlds different in that regard.
What these three actors have in common is that they had the time of their lives filming this fantasy action-adventure series, premiering Friday, March 29 on Disney+ with all eight episodes. Richardson felt “really free” filming, so much so that on her first day she had to be told to “pull it back a bit.”
Harland’s filming process was unique. Despite sharing a boatload of scenes with Mohammed as the dynamic central duo, Harland “didn’t even know Nick was playing the role until halfway through shooting. I just had a couple of dots on my hand and my [shoulder] and I was leaving gaps for his lines. It was a fascinating learning curve.”
“I was just so desperate to have Nick there and do scenes together because he’s such an incredible actor,” Harland continues. “That was really tough, but then it also made it really magical watching it for the first time and seeing them together for the first time. I love Billy as much as Nell loves Billy, and I love Nick as much as that.”
Nell’s powers help her dodge bullets, throw grown men with ease at high speeds, and more. She also commits some highway robberies on her path to justice. Find out more about Harland’s challenging Renegade Nell stunts and more in the TV Insider interview above, and don’t miss out on this epic new heroic tale when the series premieres on Disney+.
Renegade Nell, Series Premiere, Friday, March 29, Disney+