How Sean Bean reinvented classic villain Sheriff of Nottingham for all-new Robin Hood series

Every great hero needs a villain, but the role can often become a one-dimensional one in comparison to the titular character. Robin Hood co-creators Jonathan English and John Glenn wanted to avoid that in their adaptation.

In the MGM+ series, the duo reimagined the Sheriff of Nottingham for acting legend Sean Bean, creating a multi-faceted and “complex character” who experiences his own sense of internal turmoil, as opposed to being the typical self-serving, almost-pantomime baddie he’s often reduced to.

English, who served as the co-writer and director for all ten episodes, told RadioTimes.com: “We wanted the Sheriff to be a complex character, not just a bad guy, the typical baddie that the Sheriff of Nottingham often is.

“We wanted him to be a very complex character who's torn between trying to uphold the law, trying to uphold what is it – Norman culture – but also struggling with everything that he deals with, his responsibilities as the sheriff, as the policeman of Nottingham, and having a rather unruly daughter as well. Sean just brought so much complexity and greyness to all of that.”

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Alongside the introduction of his daughter, Priscilla (Lydia Peckham), the co-writers also credited Bean’s “extraordinary” abilities as an actor to transform every line of dialogue into a rich and memorable moment.

Glenn added: “He’s just an extraordinary actor in his ability, but also in how collaborative he is and just brings so much to every scene and makes interesting choices. It's his choices and how he delivers lines, which are fairly simple, not necessarily important moments and he just instils such colour and complexity [in them].”

The Lord of the Rings actor is joined by relative newcomers for the series, as well as acting icons such as Connie Nielson, but the co-writers wanted to ensure they championed new talent as well as offering substantial enough roles for their “big name” actors too.

“I think the goal always for both of us was to cast relatively unknowns for Robin and Marion, which is challenging to get done,” Glenn continued. “They're always going to want names or a star, but Lionsgate and MGM+ were very supportive of that.”

“We really spent a ton of time on Eleanor (Nielson) and the Sheriff of Nottingham, on those roles really writing them, making them dimensional, creating characters that you haven't quite seen before.”

“The Sheriff is a very unique version of the Sheriff of Nottingham, and we felt if we could land that, we would be able to attract heavy hitter actors that would offset the unknowns that we wanted to cast,” he added.

Jack Patten, who landed the role of the leader of a rebel band of outlaws, Robin, admitted he felt “very lucky” to be able to work with actors such as Bean and Nielson, who led the set by example for the younger actors to follow.

“It was awesome,” he said when asked about working with Bean. “It was so great. I think we were very lucky with the senior actors that we got on this show. They really just led from the front in their own way and they’re such great actors, and we both learnt so much from them, but just great people as well.

“We really couldn't have asked for a better group. Then all us youngsters, we were just hungry and we just wanted to put our best foot forward and we were all just so pumped. We were just so keen.”

Robin Hood arrives on MGM+ on Sunday 2nd November 2025.

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