"I learned a lot": Jennifer Holland reveals what she learnt about Harcourt's story during Peacemaker Season 2's pre-production

Peacemaker Season 2 has thrown fans into a twisted web of alternate realities, emotional reckonings, and brutal truths and at the center of it all stands Emilia Harcourt. Played by Jennifer Holland, Harcourt's arc this season feels more layered than ever.

When speaking to Variety, Holland admitted;

"I learned a lot of what was going on with Harcourt's story early on, but not everything."

Her revelation teases the careful balance between insider insight and creative surprise that shaped her character's journey long before cameras rolled.

Mapping Harcourt’s emotional terrain in Peacemaker Season 2: What Jennifer Holland knew and what she didn’t

During Peacemaker Season 2's pre-production, Jennifer Holland was already aware of the emotional importance her character would carry. As she explained to Variety, she and James Gunn who is the show's creator and also her husband, often discussed potential directions for Harcourt.

But Gunn kept a few narrative cards close to himself. She revealed;

"Sometimes, James holds things close because he's afraid something might change in the writing process..."

This uncertainty, rather than restraining Holland, helped her build Harcourt with certain layers of vulnerability.

What Holland did know early on was the essence of Harcourt's emotional anchor which was her resentment towards Peacemaker, formed by her past connection to Rick Flag Jr. She said;

"From the very beginning, he had very rough early outlines of the show that were completely different..."

She also added that early conversations centered around Harcourt's history with Flag Jr. and how it fueled her "deep vitriol and hatred" for Peacemaker in the first season.

By the time Peacemaker Season 2 began filming, Holland was finding a way between half known knowledge and improvised instincts. This creative push-and-pull became a part of Harcourt's rhythm.

The uncertainty mirrored Harcourt's own struggle as a woman trying to stay calm in chaos while haunted by her complicated relationships and morality. The result? A character that feels organic, reactive, and full of raw human emotion.

Building chaos from order: How Harcourt’s arc evolved through pre-production secrets

Holland's performance in Peacemaker Season 2 stands out precisely because she didn't have the full script in hand from day one. Gunn's evolving drafts meant she had to shape Harcourt in real time, adjusting to shifts as the story deepened and changed. This process gave her portrayal a grounded unpredictability; the kind of realism that fans have come to love about the series.

Throughout the season, Harcourt's arc transforms from a government operative to someone forced to confront her personal scars. In Episode 7, her desperate attempt to kill Keith and her moments of moral crisis are reflections of this larger emotional fracture.

Holland's understanding of these arcs began in the pre-production phase, but the finer details, including Harcourt's interactions in the Nazi-controlled alternate Earth developed as filming went on.

By not being told everything early on, Holland was able to approach Harcourt's decisions with a kind of unfiltered instinct. She reacted to the unfolding story just as Harcourt would react to the collapsing world around her. It's a creative gamble that worked beautifully.

The result is a character who feels unpredictable yet deeply human as someone trying to make sense of love, guilt, and survival in a world gone wrong. In many ways, Gunn's choice to keep parts of the narrative under wraps acted as an emotional experiment. Holland's Harcourt becomes both a soldier and a mirror, reflecting the uncertainty that defines Peacemaker Season 2 as a whole.

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Jennifer Holland's early glimpse into Harcourt's Peacemaker Season 2 storyline was about knowing just enough to feel real. That balance between knowledge and mystery shaped one of the show's most emotionally charged performances.

Her collaboration with James Gunn, grounded in trust and creative restraint, gave Harcourt's journey a heartbeat that fans can feel. As Peacemaker Season 2 barrels toward its finale, it's clear that Harcourt's story was built on more than scripts. It was built on intuition.

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