It's no easy feat to portray a former cult member, but Nell Tiger Free makes it look effortless in the Apple TV+ series Servant, executive produced by acclaimed filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan.
And it turns out the role of Leanne really is that easy for the English actress to play. In an exclusive interview with E! News, Nell remarked that the simple act of dyeing her blonde hair brown is all it takes to revive the character. "It's like Leanne's back," she remarked. "I've unlocked her and she's back again."
Even Nell is amazed by the process, saying, "It's interesting how quickly your brain can code switch from something so small."
It certainly helps that the cast is relatively isolated from the outside world while filming, with Night and series creator Tony Basgallop rarely taking viewers beyond the confines of Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) and Sean Turner (Toby Kebbell's) Philadelphia home. Nell shared that they film on a soundstage for "such concentrated, intense periods of time," it makes Servant feel like its own "world."
But it's not necessarily a world that anyone wants to visit.
Nell acknowledged that Servant inspires fear with its never-ending plot twists and disastrous events but she's personally unaffected by the dark subject matter. "I've always been quite lucky," the star shared. "It's never been too difficult for me to shed her at the end of the day."
The 22-year-old actress added that it's just as easy saying goodbye to Leanne as it is becoming her. "It's like the hair gets cut and the accent goes and I'm back in London irritating my mum and hanging out my friends at the pub," she explained. "I'm just Nell again."
At the time of the interview, Nell was just Nell, having recently finished filming the fourth and final season of the Apple TV+ series. It marked the end of her time as Leanne, a role she's dutifully played since its inception in 2019.
She looked back on Leanne's evolution, saying, "Every season is very different to the last. I feel like I've played almost three different characters at this point and season four is no different."
Because Night and Tony have left so much room for interpretation, some crazy theories have emerged about her mysterious character. The most popular theory is that she's a saint or angel who was placed in the Turner home to teach them to be better human beings, a divine plan that backfired when Leanne decided humans weren't saving.
Nell laughed when we brought up the the speculation, telling E! News, "I think I'm almost as much in the dark as the viewer."
"I love hearing people's stories," she continued. "I get like drunk people coming up to me at the bars and being like, 'Yo, dude, is that baby yours?' It's hilarious."
But viewers will get their answers in due time. In October, Apple TV+ confirmed Servant is coming to an end. "Since the very first episode of Servant, audiences all over the world have loved buckling themselves in for this thrill ride, drawn into the cinematic, unsettling, twist-filled universe that M. Night Shyamalan has created," Apple TV+'s head of programming, Matt Cherniss, said in a statement. "With each suspense-filled season, viewers have been able to experience the living nightmares of these compelling characters on an increasingly deeper level and we can't wait for everyone to see what's in store as this gripping mystery takes another surprising turn in season four."
Nonetheless, Nell encouraged, "Keep speculating!"
New episodes of Servant stream on Apple TV+ every Friday.