The actor opens up about bringing Taggie to life—and the confidence she gained along the way.

PHOTOGRAPHY Emily Soto
STYLED BY Calvy Click

When Bella Maclean found out she was going to play Taggie in Rivals—the smash-hit Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s iconic 1980s–set novels, The Rutshire Chronicles—she figured she had something major ahead of her. But when she arrived for the show’s very first table read ahead of Season 1, and sat down between Danny Dyer and David Tennant, something clicked on a deeper level. “I remember being like, Oh my God. We’re really making this, and this is actually really happening, and this isn’t a dream,” she recalls. “And they were sitting next to me, they were really nice, they were really funny, and I just remember thinking: Yeah, this is going to be quite enjoyable.”
Despite pressure for the series to succeed—and Maclean’s own worries about making a good impression—energy on set was always high. She recalls the mischievous glint that her costar Alex Hassell would get in his eye whenever he tried to get her to break character and laugh. The ability to bring a sense of levity to a set is one of the leading markers of a seasoned actor, according to Maclean. “David Tennant is so hard-working, but he’s always the first person to laugh at a joke in a scene,” she says. “There’s a lightness that a lot of actors have that I really love—which makes total sense, because of course, you want to go to work and have fun.”
Following a cast of wild characters, Rivals takes place in the British countryside during the ’80s. Though Maclean, 28, did not live through the era, she notes that the narrative at the core of the show and her own character’s arc feel more important than ever. Taggie, as Maclean explains it, starts out the series, now in its second season (with part two set to air in November), as a sensitive wallflower. But as she makes moves to reach her professional and romantic ambitions, she becomes opinionated and independent.

Bella Maclean. L'Officiel USA July / August Issue.

“So much of the time, you want to portray gritty, complicated characters. They’re really fun to play, but I like that Taggie is morally strong. She strives for goodness, and it really makes you reflect on how you act in your own life,” Maclean says. As a young actor working toward her own goals in the industry, taking on the role felt transformative. “As the series goes on, she becomes a lot more ballsy, and I felt myself becoming more strong-willed too. I took a little piece of her with me.”
As Maclean’s career progresses, she has become more mindful of the kinds of stories she wants to tell. “I want people to feel like their problems are presented onscreen in a truthful and honest way, and that they feel seen,” she says. She recalls a recent outing with friends to a festival in London, where she was approached by a group of young girls. They raved about how much Taggie meant to them, much to Maclean’s delight. “I left that night absolutely beaming.” 
Good times are ahead this summer, too. “My sister is getting married,” she shares. “I’m so excited. I’ll probably be so emotional, but it’ll be magical.”

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Bella Maclean Found Her Fire in 'Rivals'

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