This whole summer I was caught up in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Honestly, I can’t recall what I did this past summer, but I can tell you all about Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser and their romantic and sweeping adventures. Earlier this summer, Starz announced that newcomer and Scottish actor Sam Heughan will play the irresistible Jamie Fraser. Since then more casting news has trickled out including the following: Tobias Menzies (Frank Randall/Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall), Graham McTavish (Dougal MacKenzie), Gary Lewis (Colum MacKenzie), Duncan Lacroix (Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser), Annette Badland (Mrs. Fitzgibbons) and Stephen Walters (Angus Mhor). **Check out our photo gallery of the cast at the bottom of this post**
But what we, fans, have been truly waiting for has finally arrived! Who will play the series lead character and our favorite feisty sassenach, Claire Randall? Caitriona Balfe landed the coveted role. Balfe’s credits include J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 as well as Bryan Singer and Jason Taylor’s digital series “H+.” She can next be seen in Escape Plan, starring opposite Arnold Schwarznegger and Sylvester Stallone.
She looks exactly how imagined Claire!
Author Diana Gabaldon and executive producer Ronald D. Moore (“Battlestar Galactica”) commented on Caitriona Balfe being chosen to play Claire.
Diana Gabaldon said, “Hard to believe lightning can strike twice, but it surely did. The moment Caitriona Balfe came on screen, I sat up straight and said, ‘There she is!’ She and Sam Heughan absolutely lit up the screen with fireworks.”
“The casting of Claire Randall was a long and difficult one because the role is so crucial to the success of our show. Outlander is told from Claire’s point of view and we experience the entire story through her eyes, so it was vital that we find exactly the right actor to play her,” said Executive Producer, Ronald D. Moore. “Caitriona wasn’t on anyone’s radar, she wasn’t on any list, but when we saw her audition tape, we immediately knew she was someone special. Then, after we had her read with Sam, we knew we’d found our Claire. At its heart, Outlander is the story of two people — Claire and Jamie — their loves and losses, their adventures and tragedies, and now we finally have them both.”
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For those who haven’t heard of Outlander, the series spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history and adventure in one epic tale. It follows the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
The first two episodes of the series will be written by executive producer, Ronald D. Moore (“Battlestar Galactica,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation”) and directed by John Dahl (“Dexter,” “Breaking Bad,” “Justified”). Ronald D. Moore and Jim Kohlberg are executive producers of “Outlander,” which is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Story Mining & Supply Company and Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television.
The series will begin filming in Scotland in September 2013 and is expected to premiere on Starz in 2014.
The Outlander Cast (As of 09/11/2013)
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