Aaron Taylor-Johnson Is Scottish Legend James Douglas In Netflix’s ‘Outlaw King’

EXCLUSIVE: Aaron Taylor-Johnson is being set to co-star as James Douglas in Outlaw King, the David Mackenzie-directed Netflix feature that stars Chris Pine as Robert the Bruce in the War for Scottish Independence. Pine reunites with his Hell or High Water helmer in a package Netflix landed in April for its burgeoning feature film slate.

Douglas is a storied figure in Scottish history, and from what I’m reading, it’s hard to imagine Robert the Bruce would have succeeded in beating back England King Edward I’s armies if he didn’t have Douglas as his right-hand man. The son of the first noble to support William Wallace when the figure memorialized in Braveheart fomented the first movement toward independence from the English, Douglas saw his father’s lands given away, and after being denied them by the English king, he joined Robert the Bruce as an outcast properly motivated to avenge his loss. Together, they learned guerrilla fighting tactics that led to years of surprise attacks, sacked castles and, finally, independence. Gillian Berrie, Steve Golin and Richard Brown are producing.

Taylor-Johnson is coming off a scary performance in the Tom Ford-directed Nocturnal Animals, which won him the Golden Globe and got him a BAFTA nomination, and the Doug Liman-directed drama The Wall. He’s repped by UTA, Brillstein Partners and Sloane Offer.