Outlander: Blood Of My Blood SDCC Cast Interview

From the breadcrumbs of a story in Diana Gabaldon’s books, Matthew Roberts, the writer, executive producer and showrunner of Outlander, wanted to expand and explore the story of Jamie’s parents – Brian Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie.

Fans may remember Jamie telling the story to Claire to help her get comfortable with him on their wedding night. Roberts also ruminated upon Claire’s parents, Henry Beauchamp and Julia Moriston, who we knew, based only on a brief mention in the books, died in a car crash when Claire was a child. Roberts figured if Claire was a time traveler, and because in Gabaldon’s books, time-travel is genetic, maybe one or both of Claire’s parents could time travel.

Roberts pitched the idea to Maril Davis, the other executive producer of Outlander, suggesting, “What if Claire’s parents didn’t die in a car crash? What if they time-traveled to Scotland 1714 where Jamie’s parents lived? What if they met? What if, without Henry and Julia being there, the love story of Brian and Ellen could never have succeeded?” They pitched the story to STARZ, and here we are, anticipating the premier of Blood of My Blood on August 8.

At San Diego Comic-Con I asked Roberts and Davis about their casting process because, in my opinion, the actors selected to play Jamie and Claire’s parents bore a striking resemblance to the actors of Outlander, specifically Jamie Roy who plays Brian Fraser, Jamie’s dad, and Hermione Corfield who plays Julia Moriston, Claire’s mom.

The producers were quick to give credit to their casting directors for finding great actors who just happened also to have the look they were going for.

Jamie Roy had actually auditioned for another role on the original Outlander and while he did catch the attention of casting directors because of his resemblance to Sam Heughan, he was ultimately rejected. But they remembered him when casting for Blood of My Blood.

I was also invited to a virtual press conference with Sam Retford (Dougal MacKenzie), Seamus O’Neal Ross (Colum MacKenzie) and Rory Alexander (Murtagh FItzgibbons), joined by Tony Curran (Lord Simon Lovat) and Conor MacNeill (Ned Gowan).

The camaraderie was readily apparent between the stars, but in the show, there is clearly strife between young Dougal and young Colum as they vie to be the next Laird of Clan MacKenzie. I had to ask how Sam and Seamus worked together to establish the sibling rivalry and tension between their characters.

Seamus jokingly answered angrily, “So I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the first time that I met Sam as Dougal, he really pissed me off. He really annoyed me. It was just so easy to act with hatred.” He went on to explain that it was really fun to act angry and some of those scenes were so good because Sam just has this presence as Dougal.

Sam Retford added, “Yeah, I think our lord and leader, Matthew Roberts, is mainly responsible for the frustration that I feel within scenes. It’s so easy to play when the writing essentially sketches out these journeys where they are having a monologue, even when they’re talking to each other, because neither of them are listening to each other. They just both keep hammering down the same path.”

Both are looking forward to the story unfolding of how Dougal and Colum grow from squabbling siblings to the grudgingly respectful brothers we see in Outlander. Likewise, Rory Alexander gives us a Murtagh who is more bright-eyed and hopeful than the Murtagh played by Duncan Lacroix and within a few episodes, it’s apparent how Murtagh develops into a cynical, distrusting man who is incredibly loyal to Jamie.

While Matt Roberts told the cast to try not to watch Outlander after they were cast, Connor MacNeill’s portrayal of Ned Gowan calls to mind Bill Patterson’s pragmatic and wise delivery, even Tony Curran commented on it, going so far as to say it felt like Bill Patterson was in the room at times.

Tony Curran plays Brian Fraser’s father, Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, with great relish. Lord Lovat is a narcissist who holds a grudge against Clan MacKenzie. He’ll stop at nothing to reclaim power and Curran loves how he’s been scripted to be cunning and cruel, the character we love to hate.

While Blood of My Blood is inheriting a large fan base from the original Outlander, there are Outlander fans who may not be convinced a prequel was necessary.

I believe the perfect casting, the superb writing and the excellent acting will win them over. This return to the Outlander Universe is a thirst-quenching drink while we wait through Droughtlander for the final season of Outlander. ◊

 

Here is a video from the video press conference done after SDCC.

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