The Outlaws is one of the best shows of the year.
With its blend of humor, action, and fine acting, it has everything you’d expect from a TV show with the talent involved.
TV Fanatic chatted with Rhianne Barreto (Rani) and Gamba Cole (Christian) about the show, premiering April 1 on Prime Video.
“It was many things, you know, the possibility of working with Stephen Merchant obviously sits there, you know, number one. He’s an icon, not just in the UK but also in the U.S.,” Cole shared of what drew him to the show.
Gamba added that the project was personal to him because he was born in Bristol, and he always wanted to go back and act there.
The star said that he connected with the stories and the characters.
“I think it’s very nice as actors when you get right in, and you are gripped.”
Gamba said that he would have been interested in the show, even if he didn’t work on it.
Rhianne echoed what her co-star had to say and felt that the creatives attached were “clear evidence that it was going to be great.”
“I have respected him [Stephen] for such a long time and, and he’s just a storyteller, like in every kind of aspect and that he was doing,” Barreto added.
“He had his fingers in so many sections of it,” the star shared of Stephen’s input, adding that he was very approachable and understood what everyone needed to deliver a scene and make sense of it.
“That was just really great because he could be really clear about what we needed. And we could have really fruitful conversations.”
We are introduced to the world of the series through many characters, and Barreto’s Rani has a compelling arc.
“I describe her as a really intelligent and brave girl whose parents expect a lot from her, but also at the same time, she is very underestimated in terms of what she’s capable of.”
“It’s a coming of age story, I think for all characters, but especially her in terms of, you know, age, she’s like going through such a seminal part of her life.”
Chris finds himself in community service due to many things going on in his life.
“He’s raising his younger sister, Esme. She’s at a point in her life where she understands a lot of what’s going on and she’s actually being drawn into a lot of what’s going on in the area as well,” Gamba teases.
“So it’s his job to not only redirect. But also give her the impetus to dream bigger than Bristol and dream bigger than whatever she may think is possible for herself.”
“His aim as an older brother is to hope that his siblings that come after him are better than him.”
“You see that the circumstances he was given are very tough and very difficult, which is why he is in the predicament he’s in.”
Gamba shares that we delve deeper into his home life as the series progresses.
Despite a very serious subject matter, the series manages to weave the stories with humor to make them much more digestible.
“It’s very important because I think that the balance of having a drama show mixed with comedy allows you to not only laugh but then learn,” the star shared.
“It allows that compassion to really sit with the audience, and they can start to understand, engage and build those connections with characters that they thought they were similar with and the ones that they don’t because, at the end of the day, what we’re showing you is that it doesn’t matter what background you’re from.”
“We will need each other at the end of the day. That was very, very important for me.”
Edit Delete
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
You can view the original article HERE.
