From co-creators Stephen Merchant and Elgin James, the six-episode crime thriller comedy series The Outlaws (which has already shot a second season) follows a group of individuals, each of different ages and from different backgrounds, who have all done things that put them on a path that ended with them working to complete a community service sentence together. They start as seven strangers, but quickly learn how much they actually have in common, which bonds them in a way that inspires them to be there for each other, even if that leads them on a dangerous journey.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays socialite and influencer Lady Gabby, talked about how flattered she is that the series has been so well-received, why this project appealed to her, what she loves about her character, Gabby’s incredible fashion, working with such a diverse ensemble, the emotional journey over two seasons, and how she’s intrigued to see what Merchant might come up with for a possible third season.
Collider: I love this show. I love a good ensemble of misfits, and I really enjoyed this group.
ELEANOR TOMLINSON: Oh, good. That’s great news.
Congratulations on the first season being the BBC’s biggest comedy last year and already getting to do a Season 2. That’s cool, no matter how you look at it.
TOMLINSON: Yeah, it is. I’m incredibly flattered that it’s been received so well.
When this project came your way, what was the biggest appeal of it for you? Since you don’t typically get to know everything ahead of time with a TV show, how much did you actually know about what this would be and what it was that you would be doing?
TOMLINSON: I was sent a couple of the scripts with the opportunity to audition for it, and I just laughed out loud. I’d not read anything that had really made me howl laughing, straight off the page. I thought it was hilarious, and I love Stephen Merchant. I’ve been a fan of his for so long. It was just an amazing opportunity. So, I did the audition for it, and then I got a call to go in and meet with Stephen to see how we got on and maybe try a couple of scenes together. It was just wonderful. He was everything I wanted him to be. At the same time as being hilarious and funny, he’s also incredibly nurturing. He really took me under his wing and taught me so much. I’ve not done an awful lot of comedy, and he was really helpful to me. By the end, we had a good rapport, and it worked well for our characters.
Are you somebody who normally gets nervous when you go into a situation like that, where you know that you’re going to be meeting someone who’s not just a co-star, but who’s also created the show and is directing episodes. How do you deal with that?
TOMLINSON: I think there are always gonna be some nerves, but it was more excitement, to be honest with you. I just wanted to do well. I wanted to be the right kind of Gabby that he was looking for. We just got on really well. He’s a lovely gentleman. It was very easy, talking to him and taking direction from him. We actually improvised a lot in the audition and we made each other laugh. It was lovely. There was an immediate connection. All the nerves disappear when it’s like that because, at the end of the day, you want to do the best job that you can. There’s no point of being so frightened that you can’t come away with your best attempt. I think I’ve learned that, just from years of auditioning. The more worked up that you get about it, the worse you do. It’s best to just go in there with an open mind and say, “This is what I can bring to it. This is what I think my character, Gabby, is and how she’d behave.” We were able to create, together, what I think is a very funny character, and I really enjoyed playing her.
You did beautiful work on Poldark and The Nevers, but those shows are not known for their comedy. What have you enjoyed about getting to dig into the comedy in The Outlaws?
TOMLINSON: Like you said, it’s so different from anything I’ve really done before. I loved my role in Poldark. It was the most extraordinary experience, and to be able to do it for so long was just a big get. So, to try to do something that’s modern, where people see me in a different light, that’s what I strive for, as an actress. I want to push the boundaries of what people expect me to be, to take on a new challenge each time, and to try to make myself and the characters as different as possible, from previous roles that I’ve played.
What have you loved about Gabby from day one, and are there qualities about her that you’ve grown to appreciate the longer you’ve spent playing her and getting to know who she is?
TOMLINSON: Oh, definitely. What I love about her is her unpredictable temper, particularly in that first driving scene. That was actually the first scene that I filmed, where I drive up to the burger takeaway and I reverse into the guy in a rage. I was so nervous because I’d not driven for about seven years. I passed my test when I was 18, but I’ve not driven since. And so, I was not only really nervous about having to do all the driving in eight-inch heels, but it was also my first scene, it was a huge amount of dialogue, and it had this huge stunt in the middle of it. I was really nervous that day, but it was actually fantastic.
Just having the freedom to be able to take a character like that and make her as outrageous as possible, that’s what’s so funny about her. We see these Instagram people, all the time nowadays, who are outrageous, but you never get to see the inside of them, and I think this show gives that perspective into her life. There’s actually a lot of sadness in her life. There was just so much that you could do with the role, and make it very funny, but very sweet and endearing, at the same time. She’s just fabulously unaware, as well. She really has no clue what life is like, for the majority of people. It was really fun to have that escapism to play with. She’s just completely outrageous but doesn’t really know that she is.
She also clearly has an incredible fashion sense and quite an amazing wardrobe. How did that help inform the character for you? Did you get any say in her looks, at all?
TOMLINSON: Charlotte [Mitchell], the costume designer, was absolutely fantastic. She was on board, from the very beginning. We spoke about designers that I like and independent designers, as well. Some of the fabulous hats that Gabby wears are by a brand whose owner is a friend of mine. It’s called Hoodlondon, and it’s by Adèle Mildred and Gabrielle Djanogly. It was fabulous to bring in my own little touches to the character, but Charlotte is amazing at fashion, so she was able to really steer me down the road. I felt like we created that character together, in those fittings, and finding outfits for each different scene and scenario. She’s wearing The Vampire’s Wife and Isabel Marant.
It was just hilarious to not have any rules that we had to follow with her. Also, there was the way that we styled the tabard. I said, “I don’t want her to wear it like your normal tabard. I want her to wear it as a fashion accessory.” We were able to create that together, and with Stephen, as well, and come up with just this outrageous version of her that bends the rules of time. It was great. So much of creating the look of the character informs how you play it, so I think it’s important that everybody works together as a team, to create the best piece.
Seeing Gabby with her father explains so much about her and who she is. How do you think their relationship has affected her and shaped her, and what was it like to have Richard E. Grant as your dad?
TOMLINSON: Oh, it was just wonderful. It was absolutely amazing. I’ve been a huge fan of his, so when I found out it was him playing my dad, I was so excited. He was just the loveliest man I’ve ever had the opportunity to spend time with. We had one day of filming together, on that enormous estate just outside of Bristol, and it was fantastic. We had so much fun. He’s a complete gentleman, and it was just fascinating to watch and learn from him. When you see the way that he treats her, you’re right, it really gives you that insight into why she’s grown up the way that she has and how she’s almost always striving for attention, not only from him, but from everyone. She’s been somewhat neglected and money hasn’t necessarily brought her happiness. She thinks it has, until she meets this group of people, and she realizes what real friendship is. All she’s ever known is people using her for her money and her status, whereas this group of unlikely friends really show her another side of life and include her in ways that she’s never been included before. It’s a great journey to be able to go on with a character. When you see her with her father, there’s a real sadness to it because it suddenly makes sense of her.
Gabby goes on quite an emotional journey in this. She really learns that you can’t just expect things from other people without at least being decent to them and not taking advantage of them in return. What do you think it’s like for her to not only actually start to care about other people, but to realize that they actually do care about her?
TOMLINSON: That’s a really interesting question. We explore that more in Series 2. The gang goes on a certain journey together and, to a certain extent they, they use Gabby without her knowing, and when she finds out about that, there’s this real heartbreak for her because she believed they were her real friends, without giving any plot spoilers away. I think she’s just incredibly shocked that these people are honest with her and looking out for hers. At first, she doesn’t understand it, when Greg is trying to give her financial advice. But at the end of the day, what she realizes is that these people do care, and they have this common ground. The whole series is about different people from different backgrounds and different walks of life, coming together and finding this unlikely friendship and this unlikely situation that they have to get themselves out of. It’s an exciting series, and I’m very proud of it.
What was it like to work with this ensemble? It’s such a group of diverse individuals from different backgrounds, different experiences and different ages. You also have your show creator acting alongside you and directing episodes. And then, there’s the Christopher Walken of it all. What were the earliest days of shooting this like, as you guys were still learning about each other and figuring out the rhythm between your characters?
TOMLINSON: As with any TV or film production, you tend to shoot everything out of sequence, so I didn’t actually meet all of them for quite a long time. I did a couple of scenes with Rhianne [Barreto] and Gamba [Cole], and then I was slowly drip-fed the other actors. We’d all sit around and have a cup of tea on our break and just say, “Gosh, we’re just so unlikely, this group of people.” When would this group ever come together and work together? It’s a really funny thing because we are all very different, and we work in very different ways. It was led so brilliantly by Stephen, and it was just a joy, in the end. It was fabulous having different levels of experience. You pick up so much from working with different people. And then, the minute someone like Christopher Waken is introduced, he was a treat. He was lovely. You can’t help but pinch yourself when you look around and think, “Oh my goodness, I’ve done alright here. I’m on this show. It’s fantastic. Everyone’s fun. Here’s Stephen Merchant, and there’s Christopher Walken.” It’s quite bizarre, really.
Especially with someone like Christopher Walken, who has such a distinct personality and voice, it seems like it must be very surreal to work with him.
TOMLINSON: Yeah, absolutely. For me, I find watching people like him and Stephen is completely fascinating. You learn so much from staying quiet and just observing how they work and how they create scenes. That’s how you learn. It was just the most amazing experience.
If it’s left up to this group of characters, are they ever going to get out of community service? Do you feel like they could just keep getting in trouble and you could just keep having more seasons that way?
TOMLINSON: Well, I’m happy, if it continues. So much goes on to happen in Series 2. It’s an exciting season, as well. There’s a really big journey that these characters go on, and it’s so funny. I find Stephen Merchant’s humor hilarious and it’s so brave. We don’t see an awful lot of that these days, and it’s refreshing to watch.
When I talked to Stephen Merchant recently, he told me that he’s started discussing and figuring out possibilities for a third season, and that he wasn’t sure if there was more material there, but now he feels like there is. Have you thought about what you would still like to see happen with Gabby? Is there anything that you would still like to learn about her or dig deeper into?
TOMLINSON: Stephen and I had so much time together because our characters go on an entwined journey, and we used to joke that there’s a spinoff in which Gabby and Greg start up some kind of thing together, like an agency or something for community service. But I really have no idea. It would just be amazing to hear Stephen’s ideas. I haven’t thought about it. We shot both series back to back. We had the outbreak of COVID, at the beginning of filming, and we had to stop. By the time we started up again, the BBC had loved what they’d already seen so much, which I think was something like 10 days worth of footage, that they commissioned Series 2, so we actually shot them both at the same time.
It was quite a bizarre thing to happen, really. With the pandemic came a whole world of stress, when it comes to filming a production with all the restrictions. At the same time, it was amazing because they literally were the only people that we saw for eight months, or maybe even a year. It was quite extraordinary. We all became a dysfunctional family, but it was lovely. I’m intrigued to see what his ideas are, for a third season. It’s been so popular that it’s just so flattering that people want to see more of it.
What was that like for you, as an actor, to have the show, and then have to take a break from the show’s filming because of COVID, and then to suddenly have two seasons of the show? What was it like to get to read a whole extra season of scripts that you didn’t expect?
TOMLINSON: It was absolutely amazing. All actors are self-employed and when COVID hit, we had no idea what would happen. So, to have the opportunity to take this character on even more of a journey for a greater length of time was just such a gift. I felt so lucky. The scripts just kept getting better and better, and making me laugh out loud. I just so enjoyed it. I enjoyed discovering more about Gabby, with each scene.
She seems like a character that might be a little bit challenging to leave behind because she is so fun and so full of life, even though she does some things that you may not necessarily agree with. Was she someone that was hard to leave behind, after playing her?
TOMLINSON: Yes, definitely. Certainly, an element of the characters that you play stays with you for a while. I would like to think I’m a much calmer person than gabby. There were definitely elements that were a lot easier to leave behind than others. But I’ve got such fond memories of playing her and creating the character with Stephen. I do feel like I’ve left it behind, but also, the second series hasn’t come out yet, so we’ve still been working on post-production. It takes a long time for a project to really leave you.
How do you know when you’ve found a character that you really connect with and want to play? Is it just instinctual for you?
TOMLINSON: For me, it’s just a question of reading the script and whether the storylines and the characters make your heart beat faster. For me, it’s the excitement of new roles that are very different and something I’ve not done before and that people haven’t seen me do. It’s really about pushing myself, as an actress, and trying my best to be the best and to be different in each role. This was just completely different and incredibly exciting and the opportunity to work with some brilliant people. It was a real dream come true, to be honest.
The Outlaws is available to stream at Prime Video.