STARBURST had a round-table chat with a trio of the stars of Netflix’s The Irregulars, Thaddea Graham (Bea), Darci Shaw (Jessie) and Harrison Osterfield (Leopold) to talk about the show…
STARBURST: There isn’t a great deal about the Irregulars in the Conan Doyle books or culturally so were you given any particular pointers or sources to draw from for your characters?
Thaddea Graham: For me, Tom [Bidwell, writer and creator] has written such a rich world and the relationships are so strong and prevalent it’s so easy to buy into. It’s worlds away from my world but the elements are so easy to relate to; the sisterly bond, choosing your family and protecting people. Tom has given us a gift.
Harrison Osterfield: I agree. The fact he has been able to create this world from four or five lines in the original books is an amazing feat and we treated the scripts as our bible. I was quite lucky as Prince Leopold was a factual person so it was interesting to see where Tom drew him from and to research what he was like and what was said about him.
Darci Shaw: For rehearsals, we had Tom in the room so we were able to ask him questions about anything. He’s been living with these characters for so long so it was amazing to sit down with him and go into them in so much detail.
What was the most surprising thing you learnt from those conversations?
DS: I asked a lot about Jessie and her relationships with her mum and with Bea, which is such a strong bond that was important to get it across on screen. And also about them going to the workhouse when they were younger and how they got out of that. We wanted to fill in the gaps as you don’t meet them until they’re teenagers. It was fun inventing the backstory.
TG: Billy, Jessie and Bea had been through all that so when they talk about the workhouse they know exactly what they mean. We thought that Spike joined the gang a little later. So it was good for us as actors to know what the characters knew as they’d lived together.
HO: Tom was also only a text away if we had any questions. For Leo’s perspective, I wanted to know what drew him to the Irregulars and what made him stick around. He was obviously looking for friendship and love and felt valued in bringing something to the team.
For Darci, you had a lot of the scary scenes. How did you find that and then trying to switch off after filming?
DS: We had such a safe environment on set and everyone was so attentive in making sure I was okay. They built these tunnels and I had such fun with it. I was burning a lot of energy running around so every night as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out for the count.
For Thaddea and Harrison, love and relationships are huge themes throughout. You two get the romance which is in contrast to what Darci as Jessie is going through.
HO: It’s interesting as there are all these dark, supernatural things going on and at the same time you’re trying to chat up the girl of your dreams. The relationship they have is very strong and from the off they notice there are some qualities they like in each other. I think it’s exploring that and being a teenager in love but there are a lot of other circumstances and they realise love isn’t easy.
TG: I love that’s there’s that depth to the relationship. It’s these two people connecting on an emotional level and they say things in each other that that person sees as a weakness. They really help each other and I think that’s lovely.
What do you think you brought of yourselves to the characters?
DS: It’s funny as originally I read for Bea and then on the train home I was asked to look at Jessie. I’m not sure. I think it just fell into place and I can’t imagine it being any other way. I’ve loved playing with all Jessie’s different sides and I had a lot of fun. And the nightmares added an interesting side to her.
TG: It’s really strange to think about it. I was cast and then I did a chemistry test with Harrison and he seemed to have the essence of Leo. The entire cast is really well cast.
HO: A big thing for Leo is finding his feet outside the palace and I was quite a shy kid growing up and I wanted to bring some of that to the role.
A lot of themes feel very timely. Could you talk about that a little?
DS: The writing and the speech is very modern, we all speak like teenagers now which makes them relatable. And obviously there is a contrast as Holmes and Watson speak very differently and it shows the difference in age and time.
TG: Some of the big themes like grief are very prevalent at the moment. Seeing that represented on screen and seeing the characters deal with it in different ways is interesting. I think it can make you feel less alone and validated in a way if you see characters going through what you are and it’s so important. And themes like friendship and love are universal and are never going away.
HO: With the language, one of the main assets of the show is to break boundaries. The choices in that and the music as well allows people to connect with the show.
Harrison, you get to dress up a little and go to a fancy palace while else is in the slums. How nice was that?
HO: We all stayed in the same apartment building and these guys would come home and they’d filmed in this damp sewer and alleyway, and I’d been filming in this huge ballroom with lots of extras. So that was tough!
The Irregulars is on Netflix now. Read another part of the round table interviews here and check out our review here.
