‘Outlander’s Sam Heughan & Caitriona Balfe on the Danger, Passion & Politics of Season 5
Q&A
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Season 5 of Starz’s time-traveling romance Outlander begins joyfully for Jamie and Claire Fraser (Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe, above), who are decked out in their 1770s finery to watch daughter Brianna (Sophie Skelton) wed love Roger (Richard Rankin) in a touching ceremony.
But let’s not forget the British Crown has tasked Jamie with capturing and killing his godfather, rebel Murtagh (Duncan Lacroix), if he wants to keep his land grant in the North Carolina colony. The duo preview the drama ahead.
What’s the biggest danger the Frasers face now that Jamie must fight for a side he doesn’t want to be on?
Caitriona Balfe: How to play their chess moves so they get through it unscathed.
Sam Heughan: And protect the people they love. As their family grows, it’s harder to look after everyone.
Are they loving their new house at sprawling Fraser’s Ridge, though?
Heughan: If it ever gets finished! Jamie’s always drawing up new plans.
Balfe: Jamie’s never there! I just want to clarify this myth that Jamie built the house. We see Claire doing a lot of stuff. Watch the show, take notes. I want a list by the end of the season.
(Credit: Starz)
Heughan: Jamie’s off dealing with politics, and Claire’s trying to work in [her home] surgery, but you always see them come back to each other. They need that contact and that support. There’s great scenes where you see them just sitting down and working through it all together.
Balfe: There’s still a lot of passion between them. We have one big feisty fight, which was fun [to film] because we don’t get to do that very often anymore.
What else can we look forward to?
Heughan: Jamie’s trying to sculpt Roger into a man of his time, a man that he thinks is deserving of his daughter.
Balfe: [In flashbacks, we] revisit Claire in the 1960s dealing with the death of [first husband] Frank; there are beautiful scenes in the hospital where Claire works, and with Brianna. There’s a little horror film we stick in [Episode 3, as] Claire and Jamie visit the Beardsleys, an interesting family.
Heughan: It’s such a huge season. The finale is enormous!
Outlander, Season 5 Premiere Sunday, February 16, 8/7c, Starz
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