Disney+ and Lookout Point today announced casting for The Ballad of Renegade Nell, an original adventure series for Disney+, directed by Ben Taylor (Sex Education, Catastrophe). Louisa Harland (Derry Girls) plays the title role of Nell, a quick-witted and courageous young woman who finds herself framed for murder and unexpectedly becomes the most notorious highwaywoman in 18th Century England.
Newcomers Bo Bragason and Florence Keen star as her two younger sisters Roxy and George who, along with a plucky but prickly little spirit called Billy Blind, played by Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso), help Nell as she realises that fate has put her on the wrong side of the law for a reason much bigger than she could’ve ever imagined.
Adrian Lester (Trigger Point, Mary Queen of Scots) plays Nell’s formidable adversary the Earl of Poynton, a master political schemer and manipulator. The Earl joins forces with Sofia Wilmot, played by Alice Kremelberg (The Sinner), a young widow with thwarted ambitions whose quest for independence becomes indelibly entwined with Nell’s own. Frank Dillane (The Essex Serpent, Fear the Walking Dead) also joins the cast as charming rogue Charles Devereux, whilst Craig Parkinson (Line of Duty, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch) stars as Sam Trotter, Nell’s kind-hearted, widowed father.
Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck) plays eccentric newspaper magnate Lady Eularia Moggerhanger, whilst Pip Torrens (The Crown, Poldark) appears as Lord Blancheford – the father of Sofia and her feckless, bullying brother Thomas, who is played by Jake Dunn (Get Even). Enyi Okoronkwo (The Lazarus Project, Giri/Haji) also stars as Rasselas, a spirited stable boy who joins Nell and her sisters on the run in his own bid for freedom.