On March 26, Notion posted their article on Harrison! Check it out below, sourced from their website.

As Harrison Osterfield prepares to star in Netflix’s new show, The Irregulars, we caught up with the actor to talk all things acting, filming and his bromance with Tom Holland.

Having the confidence to know and trust your journey is a skill that not everyone possess. Too many times we question ourselves over the ‘right path’ and whether our actions could negatively impact some future unforeseen possibility. Harrison Osterfield is not one of these people.

Perhaps more known online as a result of his friendship with the current holder of the title ‘Friendly Neighbourhood Spiderman’, Tom Holland, Osterfield has worked on both sides of the recording camera, giving the actor a look at the inner workings of the industry at all levels.

Now with his new project, Netflix’s The Irregulars, Osterfield is making his long-awaited mark on the industry. Starring as the character Leo, The Irregulars tells the story of a group of teenagers that appear throughout Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes saga. With the production, the series takes a look at figures that make up this group; their lives in Victorian London as young people with little or no support and their work in solving and the increasingly supernatural mysteries that Holmes usually takes the credit for.

Notion caught up with Harrison to talk about his career journey and what we can expect from The Irregulars.

You studied at the BRIT School and LAMDA. What made you want to become an actor?
Yeah, you sort of pick your path once you go to those schools. Before that I went to a very academic boarding school and there was this girl that I really liked in after school drama club. I thought it would be a good idea if I joined up and impressed her. I did not end up getting the girl at all, she wasn’t interested in the slightest but the acting thing’s actually turned out okay!

It was sort of a big leap for me to go from a very academic school to something so performance arts based but as soon as I went there it was eye-opening. It was like walking into Fame the musical, there were rap battles going on and all the thespians were outside with their skulls learning lines. It was really eye-opening, and it let me loose from my academic brain and once I started, I just loved it.

You play the character of Leopold in the latest Netflix drama, The Irregulars, what can you tell us about Leopold?
The drama is set in Victorian England, I play Leo the Prince of England and he is the actual, factual youngest son of Queen Victoria, which was so much fun to play because I’ve never played a factual person before. Leo has been kept in his bedroom for 17 years in Buckingham Palace because of some underlying health problems he has, which you’ll find out later in the series. So he’s always been wrapped up in cotton wool and for his 17th birthday his one wish is to leave the palace and experience London. When on that trip, when the wish is granted, he encounters The Irregulars and once he meets the guys who are doing some cool stuff with Doctor Watson and Sherlock Holmes that’s where he wants to spend all of his time.

But he doesn’t let them know that he’s the Prince because he wants them to accept him for who he is rather than his royal stature, so straight away there’s a lot going on internally which has been really fun to play.

What’s the experience like moulding a factual figure into a character on a drama like this?
So, I had to do a lot of research into it really, because of his health problems, he was quite frail. So, I bought myself a collapsible walking stick and, in the hotel, I would just walk around the corridors with it, which was quite fun. You have this factual information and obviously all of it can’t be included, it’s a fictional piece, but it was fun to look into that and coming from an academic school I like to rehearse, and I like to research, so it fits into it all very well.

People speak of him very highly of him, he was very witty as well as kind and charming. So, you have these little tasters but to be able to explore it in an 8-episodic experience is really a positive experience.

What skills/lessons did you learn whilst on set?
This is my second big job, so it was a very new experience for me, and it was amazing to be working on a project for 8 months. Just the resilience you need to have to not burn out to know when to take a rest or when to work hard, it was a real learning curve for me starting out and a great one to be in.
What do you hope viewers take from the drama?

To connect with it and to empathise with the characters. In creating 5 characters that no one really knows anything about in the Sherlock Holmes universe, our creator and writer Tom Bidwell made them engaging so that people can empathise with them, their storylines, their relationships and who they are as people so that people can feel that emotion back home. I think he’s done an amazing job with that. For viewers to get it, and also watch it, that would be a bonus.

You’re perhaps most famous online for your bromance with Tom Holland, who you worked for as a personal assistant whilst Holland played Spider-Man on Spiderman Homecoming and Avengers Infinity War. The bromance was declared the bromance to end all bromances by MTV – even outperforming Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. What’s it like to be put in the spotlight in this way?
We met at the BRIT school close to 10 years now. It was a case of walking into BRIT school and seeing all the crazy things there and the people and thinking maybe this isn’t for me and then looking around the room and seeing another boy thinking something quite similar. That was Tom and then we became best friends pretty much the day after that.

It’s been a strange, it’s been a rollercoaster with the whole social media thing as well I find it baffling how I can upload a photo of me boiling an egg and it can be seen by 100,000 people, it’s like wow! I hope this egg’s worth it! It’s been a very strange thing; I’ve been very lucky that the attention I’ve got online is positive and the people have been so supportive and that’s why I’m so excited for this show to come out and for them to see what I’ve been working on that last 2 years. So, I’m really looking forward to that (no pressure!)

How did your experience working as personal assistant inform you about the industry and your career?
Very much so, I’d finished drama school at LAMDA and Tom was going star in his first Spiderman movie and he was like ‘oh they’ve given me the opportunity to bring someone along do you think you’d like to come along and we can run lines and you can see how these films work’ and I was like f**k yeah! let’s go! So, it was an amazing experience to see these huge budget films. Drama school was incredible, and I learnt a lot about acting and growing as an actor, but it doesn’t teach you how to be on set. It was a completely new world and I made so many new contacts. I met my manager; I met my team and after two years of working together I made the leap to try it out myself.

It was interesting to see the main actor and how he interacts with the crew, how kind he is with the crew, learning their names and having conversations with everyone. It can be a bit misconstrued a bit, but Tom is a perfect example of how to be on set and someone to look at but also see behind the scenes of each department doing their work and working alongside them was a real treat.

As a result, you have a huge online following, and even a Harrison Osterfield day (July 4th). Does it ever feel weird that so many who you’ve never met in person discuss you so much online?
I try not to think about it too much, it’s a bit difficult when you’re looking at your phone and all these people are just discussing you. It’s a weird thing but most of the reaction has been positive but even the negative stuff I just take with a smile and read them out to my friends. I’m glad they’re laughing with me and not at me, it could be one of them making the messages(!).

I think you have to take everything with a smile, you can be so vulnerable to what people think about you but as I’ve gotten older and come to terms with it, it’s an amazing thing to build this show bigger and build my projects. I’ve turned it into something much better and I’m enjoying it.
You also set up a fundraiser for the Emily Ash Trust, the 3000 challenge – 3000 Chin Ups in 30 days, which means 100 per day for 30 days. Why did you want to do this and what was the response like?
Because I was going to be locked in a hotel for about a month while filming the rest of The Irregulars I was like I’m going to get pretty bored. So, I did a bit of training and then I realised I could raise some money as well. The charity is very close to my heart, it’s run by my best mate’s Dad and I’ve known my other mate for about 20 years, and he’s been running that charity. I’ve always done something for them growing up, I’ve done 10k runs before and I did the marathon with them as well. It’s always been close to my heart and to raise a bit of money for them in some very difficult times was very important for me to be able to do.

I tried to get some of my friends on the cast involved and so I was doing 100 chin ups a day for 30 days and they contributed maybe… 20? So that was good – I really appreciated the gesture but I didn’t get any messages of people doing it themselves but hopefully as I do more fundraisers, people can start to do it as well.

Those causes don’t go away, they keep coming and they take a backseat [during the pandemic] so it’s important to keep them in the limelight and keep trying to raise money for the causes.

If you could work with anyone on your dream film/TV series, who would it be?
I think Tom Hanks would be a really cool one. He’s one actor where I just look at all of his work and it’s sooo good, there isn’t one film where I’m like ‘oh you were a bit off there’ he’s perfect throughout, so to be a part of something that he’s doing would be amazing.

What’s next on the horizon?
At the moment there’s some cool projects going on. I’ve got an amazing team behind me but solely now I’m just focused on getting this show out. It’s been close to two years in the making so I’m just really excited for it to come out and see what people think of it. There are some things coming up in the future which I’m looking forward to, the sky’s the limit.

Behind the Blinds posted their feature on Harrison! You can read the entire article below, sourced from their website.

[INTERIOR. DAYTIME] HARRISON OSTERFIELD APPEARS ON SCREEN, SANS GEORGE CLOONEY WHO DIRECTED HIM IN THE “CATCH-22” MINI-SERIES, OR THE PRINCELY ATTIRE HE’S DONNED FOR “THE IRREGULARS,” HIS NEXT PROJECT SET IN THE SHERLOCK HOLMES UNIVERSE, WHICH WILL DROP ON NETFLIX THIS WEEKEND. AND SUDDENLY, A LOUD MEOWL IS HEARD.

The cat is ready to interview you now, Mr. Osterfield.
Love that. Those are the best Zoom meetings, when you’ve got a dog or a cat in the background. I will warn you, that’s where all my attention will go.

We’re about to be locked down again in Paris. How’re things for you in London?
I’m in my flat in South London, and I feel like I’ve gone through every lockdown activity there is to do. Baking classes, yoga classes, zoom cocktail classes – I feel like I’ve done it all. I’m lucky that I have a bit of space so I can exercise outside a bit.

What’s your forte then?
Definitely not the baking. I’ve tried that a couple of times and it hasn’t turned out too well. So I’d say the cocktail making, but I can’t really remember them.

They must have been good then. Maybe ask Sherlock Holmes to give you a hand at sleuthing what they were?
A key part of investigation is remembering things, yeah. And I struggle at that. (Laughs.) So I’m glad I’m play acting it and not having to do it in real life.

So why become one of the Irregulars?
Sherlock is really at the lowest of the low, and he’s a shell of the man he once was. He can’t solve these crimes that he once could. So out of necessity, Dr. Watson really turned to these five kids who get thrust into a series of investigations. They, or rather we, start taking on these sort of investigations and crimes, and start to realize that something much more sinister and possibly darker is going on. It’s a very different Sherlock to the one that we’ve seen before. Our showrunner, Tom Bidwell, has done an amazing job of taking the may four or five lines out of Arthur Conan Doyle’s work that mention the Baker Street Irregulars and create this eight-hour episodic extravaganza.

And if that wasn’t an excellent lockdown activity on his part, I don’t know what is.
Yeah, exactly. I wish I could do that. I’ve just been messing up baking every day.

At least you went from baking to Baker Street.
I will say that. That is a very good connection. I should have run with that.

You mentioned you’d be the posh kid of the Irregulars. How posh are we talking?
Not just posh. He’s actually a prince of England, Queen Victoria’s youngest son. And in the first episode, he decides not to tell the other regulars that he is a prince. And I think that’s because he wants to sort of be accepted as a normal teenager and not have these things that have been held holding him back his whole life.

And let me guess: he has a gorgeous American actress wife in his future.
(Laughs.) Yeah, probably. Leo’s been kept in his room at Buckingham Palace for 17 years of his life, so he doesn’t really have any friends his own age. So that’s why he wants to experience London and on his very first outing, he encounters the other Irregulars.

What about you? How posh are you in real life? Do you know your fish knife from your butter knife?
I definitely fell into that sort of princely thing quite quickly. My first day on set, I put on this incredible princely royal attire and just went “yeah, this is for me.” (Laughs.) In real life, I’m pretty posh but when I read the script and saw how well-mannered and well-spoken he was, I started taking notes whenever I spent time with my granddad, who is just the most perfect man in terms of being well-spoken and perfectly mannered. I can’t wait for lockdown to end, so I can take up the curry night tradition I have with him and one of my cousins.

So how’re you occupying your time until curry’s on the menu again?
At the moment, I’m gearing up for the release of the Irregulars. It’s been a very big part of my life for the last two years. But as an actor, you have long stretches of time where you’re between roles, so I’ve set up a sustainable marketing company with some of my school friends.

It’s called Addvert, with the double D. You see the #ad hashtag on social media? Well, this is about going the extra mile to ensure the profits are going to charity or that the product we are supporting is a genuinely sustainable one, not just something that’s been greenwashed. We work on fundraisers for charities that we support or doing campaigns for sustainable products online or projects promoting mental health. It’s been really rewarding and fun.

What’s the product that we should all be paying attention to, then?
An amazing search engine called Ecosia. It’s very similar to Google, except that each search contributes to getting trees planted in Madagascar and South America. It’s quite an easy thing to put into your life and the benefits are there. So we’ve got quite a few projects like these coming up. They’re all under wraps at the moment, but I’m excited for the future.

Esquire Magazine released a digital article today with Harrison, talking about his career evolving from assisting Tom Holland on big Marvel sets to starring in The Irregulars! It’s quite the read, so check it out below.

Harrison Osterfield Didn’t Know Sherlock Holmes Before Starring In The Irregulars. It Helped.

Harrison Osterfield has been rearranging the furniture in his living room a lot. He moved into a new flat in South London with a friend last November, and while his roommate is at work, he’s been changing things up around the place out of boredom. There hasn’t been much else to do, aside from wait impatiently for The Irregulars, his first big acting role, to drop onto Netflix for the world to watch.

Finally, on March 26, it will. The series is a twisted, magical Sherlock Holmes spinoff unlike any of its Jude Law, Benedict Cumberbatch, or Robert Downey Jr.-led predecessors. Instead, the show is led by an ensemble cast playing a group of poor young teenagers hired by Dr. John Watson to help solve a series of supernatural mysteries occurring in Victorian London. It’s gruesome, dark, and also thoroughly modern.

The Baker Street Irregulars are a real part of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original Sherlock Holmes universe. They are, in the books, a gang of young street boys that Sherlock Holmes would employ to help with his cases. In Tom Bidwell’s Netflix adaptation, they’re a group of diverse young men and women who live on the street, and it’s the women who harness the power needed by Watson to help solve crimes.

Harrison Osterfield’s character, Leopold, is not one of the misfit gang. He’s a prince who stumbles across them by chance, is immediately taken with Beatrice, the leader of the pack, and decides he must tag along at all costs. Hemophilia has kept him within the palace walls his entire life, and the young group of friends present a new, unrestricted world to him, one he never knew existed before. He also happens to be pretty well-read, and so quite helpful when it comes to solving mysteries.

Osterfield himself is also entering a new world. He’s a working model, has had small acting roles before in George Clooney’s Catch-22 Hulu series, and also served as his best friend Tom Holland’s assistant on Marvel sets, but The Irregulars is the first time the spotlight is really on him. It’s daunting—daunting enough that moving the couch again seems like the best thing to do in the meantime. Esquire zoomed with Osterfield before The Irregulars premiere to talk about pandemic filming, Marvel set life, and of course, Sherlock Holmes (whom Harrison didn’t know much of before he landed this role, but we won’t tell).

Have you been working recently?
I’m not really. I’ve been just kind of getting into sort of the publicity schedule for the show that’s coming out next week and it’s been relatively quiet. A few self-tapes here and there, but it’s a bit difficult at the moment with the current climate of everything.

So this is your big breakout role. How are you feeling about the Netflix premiere?
It’s very daunting. It’s daunting but exciting. I’m obviously incredibly proud of this show. It’s been close to two years in the making, so we’ve been on it for what feels like a very long time and it’s amazing that all that accumulation of stuff comes down to the release. But I’m really proud of the work and I know a lot of the cast are as well, so we’re just excited for people to see it and see what they think.

Have you seen it yet?
I have, yeah. They sent us the episodes and I tried to do, oh, maybe I’ll do one episode a week, leading up to release. But I blitzed through all of them in a day. I couldn’t help myself. I just kept watching, which is a good thing. The show is very bingeable, and there’s a lot of action in each episode. As the episodes go on, the momentum really increases. So once you’re hooked, I think you stay hooked.

Are you a Sherlock Holmes fan or were you growing up?
I mean, this is really bad, but I didn’t know much about Sherlock Holmes before this. I watched the Robert Downey Jr. version and I really enjoyed that adaptation, but I’ve never actually seen the Sherlock series with Benedict. But my character is very new to London and new to the world, so I thought it’d be a good idea to come in with a blank slate and then just take in the world as my character would. So it’s all part of the process.

Sherlock is such a classic character and the center of gravity of this iconic franchise, but The Irregulars flips that on its head and makes young female characters the sources of power instead. So what did it mean to you to take part of this kind of series, which is not classic Sherlock in any way?
It was really exciting. In fact, when I heard it was another Sherlock Holmes adaptation, without reading it first, I thought, oh that’s kind of interesting, I guess. But then I started reading the script and realized that that wasn’t the case, that this wasn’t just another remake. This was something sort of completely different. And the fact that it focuses on these five kids who are referenced in the books, the Baker Street Irregulars for maybe four or five lines. Our showrunner Tom Bidwell has created an eight hour episodic extravaganza. And the fact that there is a lead female character and casting the right people for the right roles, regardless of sort of the period of time or anything like that, is a real special thing to be a part of.

What kind of research did you do for your role and what was your process of getting into character like?
So it was a new one for me, playing a character that was actually a factual person. Prince Leopold was Queen Victoria’s youngest son, and to be able to sort of read what his sort of peers would say about him, his mum would write about him in her journal about how clever he was and how talented he was. So it was nice to have that sort of backdrop and also having our showrunner only really a text away if I ever had any questions. But for preparation, one of Leo’s sides is his illnesses that have basically defined him his whole life, with hemophilia and sort of any bump or bruise has a lasting effect. So he’s constantly battling that and putting on a brave face for people. So I bought myself a little collapsible walking stick because Leo also has a cane and I was basically just wandering the halls of our hotel that we were staying at, just to get an idea of what that would be like on the physicality side.

Where did you guys film?
We were in Liverpool, so North England. Liverpool, Sheffield, Manchester. And because those sorts of cities have still got that Victorian aesthetic with the cobbled streets and the amazing architecture, it was really amazing. And Netflix just sort of put their weight behind that, and then would add on Victorian streets to a stately home or anything like that. So it was very easy to get into character and slip into that world, because you were literally walking into 19th century London.

Did your filming overlap with the pandemic at all?
Yeah. I mean, we were filming for about seven months, and when we had two weeks left to film we got an email over the weekend saying, “Hey guys, we’re just going to take a three day hiatus to see how this COVID thing plays out. It’s probably nothing. I wouldn’t worry about it.” And then obviously five months later, we ended up going back to work. But it actually worked out in our favor I think, because it was such a long job and the last two episodes are a big sort of finale, and I think everyone was getting a bit tired. The stamina for these jobs is something you really need to have. And to be able to go back with that renewed energy and finish it off safely and securely and with this extra amount of energy, was very lucky to do. I would say, too, that it was the safest place to be. I mean, obviously we were very apprehensive because no one really knew anything about the pandemic and how it was going to work filming, but the production team put together some amazing protocols. And we were one of the first UK productions to start back up after the first lockdown. And to go back and be tested every day, and each department had colored wristbands so you could only interact with certain people at certain times. So it felt very safe and the paramedics and the medical team did an amazing job of making us feel safe and making us able to do our best work, really.

In the series, your character embodies this class tension, and this tension between where you come from and where you choose to go in life. What did you take away from Leo in that sense, or what can he impart?
For Leo it’s an interesting one because his class is all he’s ever known. And the fact that he’s sort of been kept away at Buckingham Palace his whole life, when he encounters people that are a slightly different class than him, he doesn’t see the separation in classes. He sees them as one of his own. And at the end of the day, one of Leo’s main goals is just finding friendship and finding love. And I think for him, he is one of the few from the palace that doesn’t see that sort of disparity between the classes. And it’s actually in one of the first scenes that Leo has outside of the palace, where he sees this person standing up to what he would see as his elders is a really exciting thing for him. And as soon as he sees, oh wow, it’s just a free ball game out there, anyone can be whoever they want to be, that’s where he wants to spend a lot of his time and make a name for himself.

Do you have a favorite memory from filming?
I mean, there’s lots. It was such a new, big experience for me. Every day was a joy. There was one time where Leo is telling a joke to the cool kids of London, and I thought it’d be a good idea to test out some of my own material and tell one of my own jokes in the rehearsal, to get everyone in the vibe and see how everyone’s feeling. So in the rehearsal, it came to my line and I said, “Oh, Velcro, what a rip off.” And no one laughed. Everyone in the room just went silent and the director came over and was like, “Cut, cut, cut, cut. Okay. For this scene to work, we all need to pretend that Harrison is really, really funny, okay guys? Yep. Just bear that in mind and carry on.” And then from then on, I just said the normal line. I wasn’t going to try out any of my own material.

I was actually going to ask if you guys played around with the characters or if any of your ideas made it onto the show.
Well, clearly not. I mean, it didn’t really fit the Victorian aesthetic to… It was just too new age for them. I think that was the problem. But we were very lucky with the costumes and the fact that they were so grungy, urban, Victorian style. Even being a Prince, it was amazing being in the Royal attire. And you just felt very relaxed. And I think the show has done an amazing job with the costumes, and with the music that’s very different from the setting. It’s a show that breaks a lot of barriers, being a period show. And it doesn’t feel like that at all, and it’s very modernized.

Tell me about the cast. Are you close with them?
Yeah. Beforehand, none of us had met each other. So it was an interesting thing going off for potentially a year of filming with people that you didn’t know, spending every day with them. But instantly from that first read-through, we all just really clicked and we were very lucky that we all got on well with each other. We’re all very close and I’m close with the two guys, especially. We spent a lot of time sort of patrolling Liverpool, going to restaurants, going to bars, just having a good time. And yeah, we were very lucky to have each other. And get through it as well, because it’s such a long job. And when you’re working 15 hour days, getting up at 5 a.m. and you’re away from home as well, you need to have people sort of support you and be around. And the fact that we could sort of carry each other through that, was a real special thing.

Do you know anything about a Season Two?
The answer is no, but I would love to carry on this exploration of this character. I had such a fun time doing this job. And the great thing about the series is that it wraps up a lot of things, but it also leaves everything a bit open-ended as well. So there is massive scope to explore those relationships and narratives that have been left in the final episode. So we can just hope that people get behind the show and connect with the characters and want to see it as much as I do.

What would you hope to see Leo do in Season Two if it came to fruition?
I feel like, throughout the series, Leo really starts to find his footing as the episodes go on. Considering he’s been wrapped in cotton wool his whole life, he starts to find his feet. He starts to stand up to people that have been putting him down his whole life. So it’s a great ending for him and also a starting block for his new journey. But to narrow it down, I’d love to see some more Buckingham Palace stuff. To see him grow in the Royal family, add more responsibility, maybe some interaction with his mother, who we’ve not met before. There’s so much scope, there’s so many possibilities.

I know you’re a friend of Tom Holland and you’ve assisted him in the past. Are you a big Marvel guy yourself?
I wasn’t until we became mates, but now, yeah. Now I’m hooked.

If you had to pick an MCU dream role for yourself, what would it be?
I mean, I’ve heard that they’re casting… They’re going to make the new Fantastic Four, and I think Johnny Storm would be quite up my alley. But there’s so many characters in that universe that I would love to play, and it’s a great universe to be a part of. So it’s definitely one of the aims to get into that superhero world.

What’s a Marvel set like? Or something that would surprise people about it?
Just probably the scale of things. I mean, coming out of drama school my first time and going with my mate to see the huge budget action films in the US was a real treat. And to have that experience of CGI and coming onto this Netflix job, was a real advantage. To know how they work instead of wondering what everyone’s staring at a tennis ball for. I mean, it’s pretty daunting the first time, so I was lucky to have that experience beforehand and go onto this with an understanding of it all.

What’s next for you? What else interests you?
It’s an exciting time. I’m excited for the show to come out obviously, and I want to see how that does. But outside of acting, I’m having some really promising conversations with some in the fashion world, talking to some big brands and stuff. And that’s been a key interest of mine from a young age, so I’d love to keep exploring that world and hopefully have some exciting opportunities on the horizon.

Schön! Magazine’s interview with Harrison went live on their website today, and it has some great photos to go with it! Check out the entire interview below.

Netflix-binging has been a coping mechanism for many during the unprecedented events of the last year. From Tiger King to Bridgerton, audiences have been thoroughly entertained by the streaming giant’s plethora of gripping storylines and binge-worthy reality TV. Now, The Irregulars is set to join this list of standout Netflix shows.

With the release of this series, which offers us a fresh look into the world of Sherlock Holmes through the eyes of a band of unlikely teens, comes a wonderful cast. Amongst the show’s lineup is breakout star Harrison Osterfield. In the gripping crime drama, Osterfield steps into the role of Leopold, the whip-smart youngest son to Queen Victoria as he navigates Victorian London. At just 24 years of age, The Irregulars furthers Osterfield’s already impressive career. The young actor sat down with Schön! to discuss everything from his upcoming Netflix debut to his hopes for his acting future.

First of all, congratulations on the release of The Irregulars! Can you tell us a bit about what viewers can expect from the show?
Thank you! The Irregulars is a new Netflix original Sherlock Holmes series set in 19th century London, and it follows five teens as they tackle a variety of strange mysteries presented to them by Dr. Watson. As these ‘irregulars’ get more and more involved in the horrors of London, they realise something much more sinister is going on, and they have to keep on their guard. It’s fresh, it’s creepy, it’s got some supernatural elements and it’s also very entertaining! There’s loads of humorous moments, which will definitely have you laughing, but you need to keep on your toes because there might be something a lot darker waiting around the corner.

When did you first realise you wanted to act, and who were your biggest inspirations along the way?
I first started acting in secondary school back when I was about 13. I joined the drama group in order to try and impress a girl who was in the same class. She wasn’t interested in the end, but I started enjoying theatre more and more, so thought maybe I should give this a go! Rowan Atkinson was someone I looked up to when I first started out. I found it amazing how he could make people laugh, cry, and be empathetic without even saying a word. As I was quite a shy kid, it gave me a bit of confidence that you could still draw people’s attention and convey emotion without being the loudest kid in the room.

We know you studied at The BRIT School. What was that experience like? What was one of your biggest takeaways from this education?
It was a pretty crazy experience, to be honest. Coming from a very academic boarding school to going into the wild, free spirit of the BRIT School was quite a big change. It’s an amazing performing arts school that caters to actors and loads of other creatives as well. I think a massive thing for me was being among like-minded people wanting to make a career out of their passion. As theatre resources were limited at my previous school, it was amazing to be able to learn and grow as an actor every day of the week at BRIT.

Let’s return to The Irregulars. Can you introduce us to the character of Leopold?
Leopold is Queen Victoria’s youngest son, aka Prince Leopold. He’s a kind, witty, and incredibly smart 17 year old. Although, due to some underlying health conditions, he has been kept inside at Buckingham Palace his whole life and never really experienced the outside world. His one wish is to leave the palace and meet people his own age. On his birthday, he gets to leave, and this is where he encounters the other Irregulars. He chooses not to let the others know about his royal stature or his ailments in the hope to be seen as a normal teenager.

What preparation did you do to step into Leopold’s shoes?
The first thing I noticed when reading the script was how incredibly well-spoken Leo was, so in order to get into that mindset I spent a lot of time with my grandad as he is the most kind, perfectly mannered man I know! Luckily, he is incredibly fit for 89, which meant for the physicality side I needed to do my own work. When I moved up to Liverpool for the shoot, I bought myself a little collapsible walking stick and was practicing walking up and down the hotel corridors to get a sense of Leo’s physicality.

Do you think you share any similarities with your on-screen character?
We both have very big families! I’d say Leo has definitely read a few more books than me, but I’d like to think we share the same values on kindness and friendship. Although, he seems to prefer getting mucky and dirty outside of the palace as it’s a new experience for him. I think I’d much rather prefer to stay clean!

The Irregulars is loosely based around the Sherlock Holmes series. Have there been any pressures that have come with putting a modern spin on a beloved series?
I think if this was a standard remake of one of the Sherlock Holmes adaptations we’ve seen before I would say yes, but I don’t feel that is the case here. The Irregulars are briefly mentioned in one of the old Sherlock books, but our showrunner, Tom Bidwell, has done an incredible job focusing on a story we haven’t seen before. It feels fresh and unique. It’s also a very different Sherlock Holmes to what we’ve seen in the past. He’s at his lowest point delving into drugs and addiction after failing to solve the mysteries he once could. I feel very lucky to be part of a series that is going to push boundaries and break stereotypes of what we’ve seen in the past.

What has it been like filming a new show amidst a global pandemic? Have there been any unexpected challenges that you have faced?
It was tough! We originally were due to finish last March and had two weeks left of filming before the shutdown due to COVID. When we came back in October to finish the series, it was amazing to see how quickly crews and production teams were able to adapt to the new protocols. On set we were only allowed to interact with certain departments and travel in one way systems, and then we were also tested twice a week. The paramedics carrying out all the tests were amazing, and I know as a cast we were very grateful to be able to finish the project safely.

It is safe to say that you have a very supportive fanbase following you on social media. What do you think it is about your content that they love so much?
I really don’t know! I’ve been so lucky to have people following what I’ve been up to since I came out of drama school. I think it just started out with videos of me being this goofy kid, having the time of my life travelling the world. Now, as I’m starting to get into bigger and deeper waters, especially with this next job coming out, it seems people are getting more of a sense of who I am and what I want to achieve in this industry. I’m extremely grateful for everyone’s support online and can’t wait for people to see what lies ahead in the next five years.

What does a typical day in the life of Harrison Osterfield entail these days?
I feel like I’ve tried every lockdown activity there is. I’ve been doing yoga, baking, exercising and Zoom cocktail seminars just to stay sane. It’s actually been really fun! I’ve just moved into a new flat in London, so it’s been quite entertaining becoming an interior designer for a bit as I’ve been spending most of my time at home. My flatmate gets a bit confused when he comes home from work, and I’ve changed the living room set up AGAIN just to “see what it’s like.” I think I’ve changed it around at least 3 or 4 times. Electrifying stuff.

Who would be your dream co-star, or someone you’d love to work with soon?
I watched a film a while back called Thunder Road, which is written, directed and starred in by Jim Cummings. It’s an incredible performance piece, and Jim has 2 or 3 Oscar-worthy monologues throughout the film, which I thought were incredible. I’ve been following his career for a while now and love the style of his work. I think doing an independent film with Jim Cummings or just working alongside someone as talented as him is definitely on the wish list.

Aside from The Irregulars, do you have any other projects that you are working on or any that you would like to throw yourself into soon?
Currently, I’m just focused on The Irregulars release at the moment, as it has been such a long project in the making, but that’s not to say I haven’t set my sights on some projects that I’d love to do next. For me, I’d love to play a darker, more ominous character sometime soon, as not many people have seen me in that kind of material. I did a play in London once where I was a really horrible character, a twisted cyberbully. I remember coming out after the show to my family asking what they thought, and they said, “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that side of you before; it was quite scary.” Something along those lines would be interesting I think. Sky’s the limit.

Yesterday saw Harrison taking over Backstage Cast’s Instagram Story for a bit of a Q&A session with fans. The Irregualrs, getting into acting, audition tips, and more! We have the full video on our Tumblr page, and 157 captures in the gallery! Check out the links below.

The full video can be viewed here at the Harrison Osterfield Archives Tumblr page.