From The Hollywood Reporter:
In a show that is frequently lauded by critics and fans alike for its dynamic narrative and the compelling, feminist character at its helm, it would be easy for Outlander to rest on those laurels and let that be enough.
But the drama based on Diana Gabaldon’s novels is a veritable smorgasbord of interesting and unique female characters that subvert the tropes so easily laid out in the series’ 1740s setting. One such character is Jenny Fraser (Laura Donnelly), the sister of Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) — a woman that has seriously given Claire (Caitriona Balfe) a run for her money in the second half of season one.
Here, Donnelly talks with The Hollywood Reporter about what it was like playing the headstrong Scot, her subversion of Black Jack Randall’s attack, and whether or not we’ll see more of Jenny and Claire together in season two.
Read more after the jump!
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With Jenny, the show gets to really dig in on subverting the gender roles of the time — particularly during “The Search” when Jenny and Claire dash off to find Jamie. It’s the damsel in distress flipped on its head.
Absolutely! Absolutely. I love that about that scene; it really appealed to me when I first read the script, that these women can take this on like something out of an old Western and get on their horses to rescue the guy. It’s a real turn around and we don’t often get a chance as actresses get into characters like that. … Our producer has been describing them as the Thelma and Louise of their time (laughs].
Despite their many similarities, Jenny and Claire’s relationship evolved in a very trepidatious fashion.
Jenny, I don’t imagine, relates all that brilliantly to other women. She’s used to being running her own estate and being the leader of the house. So Claire’s arrival automatically meant that she would instead take over that role of being the lady of the house even though Claire doesn’t have any experience in it. So Jenny is not very impressed, but their mutual love of Jamie forces them to get to know each other better and they definitely develop an understanding and respect for one another.
Which is fun and gives the characters more nuance.
They don’t just run into each other’s arms like sisters to begin with, and I like the fact that their relationship is allowed a lot of time to develop. Even with the time that they spent together in season one, I don’t feel like that’s resolved or developed fully.
Like the pregnancy scene in “The Watch.”
Yeah, that’s one of the first scenes that really develops their relationship and forms that bond for them — that they are able to relate to each other as women, initially, over the subject of having babies and the reality of Jenny actually going into labor. With Claire’s medicals skills, she really helps Jenny, [who] is not a naturally vulnerable woman. She doesn’t enjoy being in a vulnerable position but she finds herself suddenly relying on and having to put her life in Claire’s hands.
Jenny’s been portrayed as quite the survivalist, which made the arrival of “The Watch” a bit of a surprise.
Jenny is first and foremost a survivor, so it’s a reality of the times for her, and she’ll go about that in whatever way she sees fit. She knows that she’s in between a rock and a hard place, she’s got the choice of either siding with McQuarrie’s men, allowing them to do what they do, or she can risk being at the hands of the English. And for her they’re the lesser of two evils because at least it’s something she can keep an eye on and can almost be controlled. She’s found a good balance in her own way: she doesn’t allow them to just come and take over the place and be whatever the way they want, she has her tongue — she had a dig at McQuarrie for being a robber — and she’ll make it clear that she doesn’t appreciate their presence but she will see it as something essential for survival.
Read the rest of the article here
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