‘Inside Outlander’ Aftershow: Charles Vandervaart & Carla Woodcock Explain William and Amaranthus’ Complicated Relationship (VIDEO)
A new power couple is forming in the Outlander universe in the Friday, March 27, episode. Warning: Spoilers for Outlander Season 8 Episode 4 ahead!
William (Charles Vandervaart) and his cousin’s widow, Amaranthus (Carla Woodcock), took a giant step forward with their heart-to-heart — including her proposal of marriage! TV Insider spoke with the actors about where things are going, and what’s truly in their characters’ hearts. Watch the video for the full interview as part of our Inside Outlander aftershow.
The couple kissed for the first time in the previous episode, so we wondered how much Amaranthus really wanted to put a ring on it. “She’s sort of throwing it out there as a joke and then sort of seeing how he responds. If William were to have turned around and gone, ‘Oh, yeah, OK, let’s get married,’ she would’ve said yes,” Woodcock says.
No matter how genuine their love might be, there’s one very messy detail: An investigation by William has suggested that her husband Ben (Alex Bhat, seen only in flashbacks so far) isn’t really dead. He hasn’t mentioned the pesky evidence to the beautiful naturalist.
Starz
“It’s the scandal. It’s the forbidden-ness of it all,” Vandervaart told us. “I think he does have a sense of guilt about all of this but the heart wants what the heart wants.”
Amaranthus is still seen as shady to some fans, and Woodcock had this to say in answer to whether her backstory is more complicated than the character has let on: “Potentially. She’s a very complex character. She is in a pretty vulnerable position. She doesn’t really have a place anymore within the Grey family. She doesn’t come from nobility, she doesn’t come from wealth. She’s just being very smart in her options in the world. She knows that as a woman, her identity is tied to the man that she’s with. Are her motivations for getting with William purely based off romantic feelings? No, but I don’t think that that necessarily means that she’s a bad person or a malicious character. She’s a survivor, and I don’t think many people can fault a mother just trying to give her son the life that she couldn’t have.”
Besides, Amaranthus could be the one to drag William out the misery in which he’s been wallowing since discovering that Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) was his biological father. William has been calling himself a bastard and lamenting that he’s not the true 9th Earl of Ellesmere.
Another person potentially instrumental in William reconciling with his dad is his sister Bree (Sophie Skelton). She arrived at the Grey mansion in Savannah in this episode — ostensibly to paint a portrait but really on a mission to procure weapons alongside husband Roger (Richard Rankin).
With so much foreshadowing about Jamie’s looming death, we had to ask how William would feel if his bio dad was killed before they could reconcile. “I don’t even want to think about that because William has had way too many terrible experiences with finding people, having a bond with them, whether or not it was his best friend in the war who passed away at the Battle of Saratoga or whether or not it was Jane [Silvia Presente],” Vandervaart says. “He does have quite a track record of people that he loves being lost right when he’s developing a very strong bond.”
As to Amaranthus getting involved with someone with that kind of history, Woodcock says, “She’s getting with the cousin of her dead husband. And only they know about their relationship at this point, so who knows what would happen if anyone were to find out?”
Be careful, sister! Watch the full video to hear more from the actors about the relationship, including how Amaranthus might get along with Claire (Caitriona Balfe); behind-the-scenes details of shooting the gazebo sequence; and the cute mistake Vandervaart made at the wedding of Richard Rankin.
Outlander, Season 8, Fridays, 8/7c, Starz
Don’t Be the Lass to Know!
Get absolutely everything about Outlander in your inbox!
Watchlist Easy access to only the shows you care about — all in one simple place
Alerts Only important notifications — when a show is returning, when it becomes available to stream, and more.
Special Offers Exclusive products we release related to your favorite shows and streaming services