Major spoilers for Young Sherlock ahead
Guy Ritchie’s thrilling new prequel series, Young Sherlock, has taken Amazon Prime Video by storm, easily rising to number one in the charts with a star-studded cast and bold new retelling of this widely-loved literary detective’s wayward youth.
So if you, like most of the nation, have been binge-watching the eight-episode season punctuated by Guy’s quintessential action-packed aesthetic, then you’ll have been treated to the last-minute twist.
Namely, that Sir Bucephalus Hodge’s (Colin Firth) unassuming secretary Edie was, in fact, Sherlock’s (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) long presumed dead sister Beatrice, who was actually working with their father Silas (Joseph Fiennes) all along in a dastardly scheme.
So, you know, business as usual for the Holmes family.
For rising star Holly Cattle, who is the actress behind the big twist, the opportunity to play such a vital role in the series wasn’t without its risks, as she told Metro.
‘I was working at a pub at the time. I was on the way to work, and I read the script on the train, and I just thought: “I cannot go to work. I have to do this” because it was due the next day.
‘I ended up calling in to my manager – they were having a nightmare at the pub, and all the tills were down and everything – and saying: “I’m so sorry. I haven’t read a character or a script this amazing in a really long time.”
‘I went home and learned all my lines, and, thank goodness, after a couple of rounds of auditions, I did get it. So I got to call my manager and say it was worth it, but I very nearly risked being fired for that.’
Having previously appeared in shows like COBRA and Mr Loverman, Young Sherlock is her biggest role to date, following in the footsteps of BBC Sherlock’s Eurus and Millie Bobby Brown’s Enola.
The concept of giving Sherlock and Mycroft a mysterious sister was made for the screen, and Holly said she ‘steered clear of watching and delving too deep into other interpretations, to keep [hers] as fresh as possible.’
As for the fascination with this character, she added: ‘She’s always linked to even further familial mystery for the eponymous Sherlock.
‘She works as a vice for whoever’s creating that version to tap into his inner world in a way that they can’t through other characters. So maybe that’s the intrigue there.’
As for her version, who dramatically reveals herself as the lost Beatrice in a showdown with her estranged family, Holly was drawn to how she ‘ totally flips gender norms on their head’.
‘She commands any space she goes into. What’s quite terrifying about her is her ability to manipulate any social scenario she’s in,’ she said, praising Bea’s ‘artistry of mimicry’ which made slipping into each version of the character so easy.
It fits right in with the themes of the series, which she described as ‘dark,stormy, scary, funny and will flip everything you previously thought about all the characters’.
Beyond being the shock late-season lead star, the role also meant she was working closely alongside industry greats like Colin and Joseph. A pretty sweet gig, to say the least.
‘From day one, we bonded over loving all the same chocolates and the same books,’ she fondly said of the ‘laugh-a-minute’ King’s Speech star.
Meanwhile, on working with Joseph, she called it ‘unlike anything I’ve experienced’.
‘There’s a scene on a cliff that takes place in episode eight where I was wrapped for the day, but I was like: “No, I am not leaving. I’m watching this”.
‘He truly is phenomenal at what he does. You learn so much just from watching him work as well, and the way he goes through and interrogates the text as well.’
Of course, all of this was occurring on Guy’s set, which was just as ‘high pressure’ as they are renowned to be.
‘You get fresh lines in right before a scene, which at the beginning is super daunting, but actually, by the end, you totally see the magic in the way he works.
‘He makes all the actors throw their previous ideas out the window last minute, and then that’s where we get the really, really brilliant stuff and really truthful moments.’
Although Beatrice is touting a gun for plenty of her later scenes, she doesn’t have a chance to get too involved in the action – something Holly hopes might change for future seasons.
‘I’d love to see her get into more trouble. I’d like to see some fighting from her,’ she said.
The actress is on a great run as she has also joined the cast for Rivals season two, which comes out in May.
Although she was coy about exactly who she’ll be playing, she said the returning cast ‘completely met [her] with open arms’.
‘It just felt like I was joining a family from day one. We have long, long days together, and it doesn’t feel like going to work at all.
‘We’re often up in the green room playing board games and yapping away with each other until the sun sets,’ she said about what it was like on set.
As for what we might see this one-to-watch do next, she has a clear vision in mind.
‘I feel very fortunate to have played characters who are quite outspoken and on the fringes of their groups, formidable women for their time. I think I just want to take that as far as I can, really,’ she reflected.
Young Sherlock is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
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