Taking Aim: Interview with Lauren McQueen

Liverpool’s Lauren McQueen steps into the spotlight as Maid Marian in MGM+’s bold new adaptation of Robin Hood.

With the 10-part series now streaming, she talks about bringing the iconic character to life, exploring her growth and romance with the legendary outlaw, and celebrating the empowering female cast behind this modern retelling of an English legend

Words | Lawrence Saunders

The story of Robin Hood has been told countless times on both film and television. What fresh perspective does this new adaptation offer?

It’s the origin story of Robin Hood, with a modern energy. In our series, we meet the characters as children and we see how they grow up to become the iconic figures we know and love. It’s a story about the fight for justice and freedom and family. It heightens the relationship between Rob and Marian and their love story. I love that all the characters have their own defined journeys, especially Marian, and we get to learn more about her. I loved the role because we get to explore more of her personal life.

I hadn’t watched any of the previous adaptations, but of course I knew of Robin Hood and what the story was about. I was so excited when I read the pilot for this new take. John [Glenn] and Jonathan [English] have done an incredible job of writing such a moving storyline – it has so much heart and grit. I was thrilled that Marion was going to have her own journey. I’d always known her just as Robin’s love interest, so the fact that she has her own arc, and that we see her personal struggles, really drew me in. She’s had a very sheltered and abusive childhood, and it was refreshing to see a woman written with such inner strength.

In previous period dramas, I’ve played characters who are vulnerable and often portrayed as victims, but Marion has this real resilience about her. It was inspiring to read something like that – especially written by two men – where all the female characters in the show have this power and independence that grows throughout the series.

How does this version make the characters, particularly the women, feel relatable and modern to today’s audience?

Even though the story has been told for hundreds of years, this adaptation has such a modern energy and makes the characters feel very real. I think audiences are going to be able to relate to the themes and to the characters themselves. Priscilla of Nottingham, for example, is very much a 2025 woman, and Marion learns a lot from her about being more outspoken and standing up for herself. It’s really inspiring to see how the portrayal of women is changing on TV – they’re coming across as more powerful and independent.

Queen Eleanor, in particular, is amazing to watch in this story. She’s technically imprisoned in England at the time, but that doesn’t stop her from ruling, making decisions and getting what she wants. Marion really admires that about the Queen, and thinks to herself, ‘I can be like this too’. She’s not going to let her abusive father stop her from becoming the woman she wants to be.

 

 

How would you describe your character Marian? How do you see her?

We meet Marian as a young child, which is really interesting because we haven’t seen these characters as young kids in any of the other adaptations of the Robin Hood story. In our story, she is an inexperienced, innocent girl who grows into a woman of confidence, who finds her own voice and power and finally chooses things on her own terms. That character arc and journey was so exciting to step into and explore throughout the series. It felt huge! Playing that as an actor was so fun and interesting. I wanted to show her fire and inner strength and make her a Marian we have never seen before.

This is the biggest and most high-profile role of your career so far – did you do anything special to prepare for it?

Definitely. I’ve done period dramas in the past, but I’d never had the chance to ride a horse – and for me, that was a big goal. I spent a year taking lessons in Liverpool just because I wanted to learn and hopefully use that skill on set one day. So when the script for Marian came through and I saw that she was going to be on a horse, I felt like I’d manifested the role! I couldn’t wait to get to Serbia and do even more lessons. We had weekly lessons with an amazing teacher.

Obviously, we were just in our own clothes for those, but once you put the dress on, it’s a whole different thing – with the corsets and the heavy fabric. It makes you sit differently, and even getting on and off the horse is a challenge in itself. And then, of course, you’ve got to try to look graceful and as if you’ve been riding for years, all while having a conversation with your scene partner and making sure you don’t fall off the horse at the same time!

I’ve been wanting to play a leading role in a drama for so long, and all my past jobs have felt like the perfect stepping stones and preparation for this, really. I felt fully ready to take it on. I’d visualised playing a role like this and being part of a series on this scale – it was just a matter of time, I think, and of really sticking to it and not giving up.

Tell us more about the costumes. Did you have a favourite?

They are amazing. This is the first character I’ve played where her costumes really reflect her journey. The costume designer was amazing. She showed us all of her sketches and they were incredible. When she is living in the forest, Marian’s costumes are this light blue color, sort of like country bumpkin. But when she finds more confidence and she is serving the Queen, the colour changes to a darker blue. It shows maturity and growth. We shot out of sequence, the costumes were so helpful to the place where she was on her journey. I loved every dress, especially the ones she wears while waiting for Eleanor – they’re just unbelievable.

 

 

What was it like working with big-name actors like Connie Nielsen and Sean Bean?

It was amazing. When I heard Sean was playing the sheriff, I was so excited to meet him and work with him. I’ve always admired his performances – he’d just finished This City Is Ours in Liverpool, but I was really moved by his work in Time. It was lovely to connect over Liverpool, and he said how much he loved working there. He can’t get away from scousers, no matter where he goes! [laughs]. He’s so down-to-earth and funny. I really admire him as a person and the way he approaches his work. Watching him on screen is like a masterclass – doesn’t have to do much, yet you can’t take your eyes off him. He was incredible to learn from.

Connie brought so much knowledge and background to Eleanor of Aquitaine; it was really inspiring to me. She was so on it and so collaborative. It’s inspiring to watch how she works and how she holds herself on set. I hope I can work with more actors like her in my career, because I love to watch people’s process in how they work and learn as much as I can.

Marian’s relationship with Rob is central to the whole show. Given that you don’t spend much time together on screen in each episode, how did you and Jack (Patten) build and maintain the chemistry needed to make the relationship feel believable?

We first met at the chemistry read in London. Jack had flown in from Australia, and I’d come from Liverpool. He was already cast as Rob, but they were still auditioning a few Marians. Before I went in, Jack was taking a break outside, sitting by himself. I worked up the courage to go say hello – I figured, we have to act like we’re in love in the next five minutes, so breaking the ice beforehand seemed like a good idea. From the moment we met, we just clicked, and I was so relieved he was such a nice guy.

When we worked on the scenes together, I could feel that he was genuinely rooting for me, which gave me a lot of confidence. John and Jonathan gave us the freedom to play around with the scenes, and we were completely aligned on everything – our characters, what to bring to each scene. We were learning from each other, too, which was lovely, especially as both of us were stepping into our first leading roles on a TV show. That energy really made it work.

Because of scheduling, we didn’t actually work together on set for the first two months of filming. I was a bit nervous about whether we’d lose that chemistry, but we kept in touch – grabbing coffee, chatting through scenes, even playing padel together in Serbia. By the time we met on set again, it was as if no time had passed. It felt completely natural.

What do you hope audiences take away from the series?

I hope they are really moved and are amazed by the love, the action, the romance. I hope they feel like they can relate to the characters and their stories can resonate with them. The female characters are inspiring and empowering, and I hope that’s what stays with them after watching.

Robin Hood is available to watch on MGM+ via Prime Video Channels

Images © Frank Ockenfels 3/MGM+