'Renegade Nell' Interview: Louisa Harland and Nick Mohammed

Premiering on Disney+ beginning March 29th is the new series ‘Renegade Nell,’ which stars Louisa Harland (‘Boys from County Hell’), Joely Richardson (‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’), Adrian Lester (‘Primary Colors’), and Nick Mohammed (‘The Martian’).

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(L to R) Louisa Harland and Nick Mohammed Talk Disney+’s ‘Renegade Nell’.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Louisa Harland and Nick Mohammed about their work on ‘Renegade Nell,’ their first reaction to the screenplay, their characters, the costumes and the effects, and what it’s like being part of the show.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Harland, Mohammed, Joely Richardson, Ényì Okoronkwo, Frank Dillane, Adrian Lester, Alice Kremelberg, and Jake Dunn, as well as executive producer) Ben Taylor.

Louisa Harland as Nell Jackson in Disney's 'Renegade Nell,' Season 1, exclusively on Disney+.

Moviefone: To begin with, Louisa, what was your first reaction to the screenplay?

Louisa Harland: Well, it’s a testament to Sally’s (Wainwright) writing because I just knew who the person was really. Just from Sally’s writing, I knew who she was straight away, so thank goodness. I mean that’s just how brilliant the writing is that it was just lifted off the page.

MF: Louisa, can you talk about Nell and Billy Blind’s relationship?

LH: I wasn’t sure what the relationship was, who he was, or what type of creature even he was until further down the line. I didn’t even know that Billy was an imp.

Nick Mohammed as Billy Blind in Disney's 'Renegade Nell,' Season 1, exclusively on Disney+.

MF: Nick, what was your experience like being a part of this series?

Nick Mohammed: Well, I loved it. I mean, I was lucky because I knew, obviously it was a Sally Wainwright show, who I adore. I knew that Ben Taylor was doing that first block and creating the visual look of the show, and I’d worked with Ben before and he’s brilliant. It was kind of this perfect combination of this amazing visionary director, but also brilliant actors. And so funny as well. Then I knew Louisa was playing Nell, and so I was like, “Ah, this sounds perfect.” But I think by that point, quite a lot was written, and I think even Sally was still working out what form Billy should take. There was talk of him being a baby. An actual talking baby. So it went through a few incarnations, but by the time I got around it was a lot more fully fledged, I think.

MF: Nick, can you explain how Billy makes Nell stronger?

NM: He is a supernatural being, but together somehow, they kind of make her stronger. He’s Jiminy Cricket. I mean I think he’s part of Nell, really. But I think Nell is strong. I think he maybe is like a catalyst for her. I think she’s got all this innate ability, but possibly Billy allows it to come to the surface when it needs to. Although there are times when she’s not able to manifest that, but they are one in the same, I think. It’s a complicated relationship really. He’s a protector more than anything else.

MF: Nick, can you talk about how the effects worked for your character?

NM: I was on a green screen and so I was lucky. I had a lot of the stuff that Louisa had already shot as a reference, but Louisa didn’t have much to go on, like a stick and a pair of eyes. The thing I found most fascinating was the light. They would shoot something outside in the woods somewhere in England or something, and then to match the lighting of that wherever they were inside a green screen studio was sort of phenomenal. You put them next to each other and it’s the same. To be able to do that I think is such a skill.

MF: Finally, Louisa, can you talk about the costumes, and did they help you get in character?

LH: I mean, the coats that I had to wear weighed more than me physically, so that made the fights even harder, and it made riding a horse more uncomfortable, let alone a heat wave in London, which we’d usually be very thankful for. All the details were true to the time, so this is how the coat would feel and that’s the weight of a coat. But sometimes we’d be working in studios, and it’d be 40 degrees outside. We’d have real fires burning in the studio, wearing all the costumes. It was intense and we still managed to have a lovely time.

What is the Plot of ‘Renegade Nell’?

Nell Jackson (Louisa Harland) finds herself framed for murder and becomes a female highwayman in 18th century England, becoming the most feared highwaywoman in the country. But when a magical spirit called Billy Blind (Nick Mohammed) appears, Nell realizes her destiny is bigger than she ever imagined.