British actress Bella Maclean, best known to audiences for her role in the Disney+ adaptation of Jilly Cooper’s Rivals, has landed a lead role in Ray Panthaki’s new indie, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

In Starland follows a middle-aged man, played by Sing Sing breakout Clarence Maclin, struggling to break free from the confines of his small town. That is, until, he meets a group of bold young artists — Maclean among them — that transform his perspective. Black-ish actor Marcus Scribner and Top Dog‘s Maxwell Cunningham will also star.

Maclean made her television debut in BBC One’s Silent Witness before joining the cast of season four of Netflix‘s Sex Education as school student Jem.

In 2024, the young actress portrayed Agatha ‘Taggie’ O’Hara in Disney+ series Rivals, the overlooked daughter of Declan (Aidan Turner) and Maud (Victoria Smurfit) who struggles with dyslexia while trying to pursue culinary dreams. She’s set to return in season two after the series was met with widespread critical acclaim.

Panthaki’s upcoming project, co-written with Jason Kavan, is his directorial debut. The British star has acted opposite Stephen Graham in Marcella (2016-2020) and Boiling Point (2021), the latter of which earned him a British Independent Film Award nomination, as well as Gangs of London (2020) and The Serpent Queen (2022) among other credits.

Panthaki will produce In Starland alongside Daniel Khalili (Trespass Against Us) under their newly formed production company Le Bateau Lavoir, which succeeds Panthaki’s Urban Way, Variety was first to report. Emmy-winning producer Daisy Allsop will also produce under her Archface banner.

Production on In Starland got underway in Mississippi in April.