Here is a new interview with Sam Heughan from IndieWire
From IndieWire:
It’s easy to recommend Ronald D. Moore’s series “Outlander,” based on Diana Gabaldon’s seven bestselling novels (25 million copies sold worldwide), which just wrapped up Season One on Starz, to anyone who likes a bodice-ripping historical romance.
The time-travel plot certainly sounds like femme fiction: after World War II, British nurse Claire (Caitriona Balfe) and her PTSD husband Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies) go on vacation in the Scottish highlands, where one of his ancestors used to fight the 18th century Jacobite rebellion, to rekindle their marriage. It’s working, until she disappears after touching an ancient rune stone in a forest clearing. She’s whisked back in time to 1745, where she encounters the very same Captain “Black Jack” Randall (Menzies, natch) and falls in with a clan of Highlanders who are fiercely opposed to the British.
Read more after the jump!
–
This rough band of warriors look after her as they travel the moors on horseback, but eventually she must marry –luckily, it’s the hunky Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) whose wounds she’s been tending. He’s been tortured, at great length and with great pleasure, by Randall, who has clearly gone to the dark side and nourishes a wee sexual crush on Jamie, as we find out at season’s end. He’s also willing to torture Claire, although she is saved before he does too much damage. Jamie’s wounds, however, run deeper than the lattice of lash scars across his muscled back.
What’s fascinating about this series is not only the well-matched attraction of a well-educated 1940s woman to an 18th century Scottish Laird (the newlyweds return to his highland farm), but how they navigate their clashing views and mores–in his world, men tell their women what to do and women obey–and spank them if they don’t–and healers tinkering with herbs and potions can easily be accused of witchcraft.
The secret of this series’ success is executive producer Moore’s casting and attention to detail. He and his team bring historic authenticity and smart storytelling craft to this well-executed series, which has earned rave reviews and a passionate fanbase. (Eight Season One episodes are on available on Netflix.) “Outlander” is not just a fantasy; it’s believable. And sexy as hell. Frequent director Anna Foerster, especially, is adept at handling the rigors of outdoor filming on horseback as well as the indoor intimacies of lovemaking –and rape and torture. These intense climactic scenes and their emotional aftermath show Heughan’s strengths as an actor.
I spoke to the theatre-trained Scotsman on the phone from Scotland where they are filming Season Two, which takes the couple to France.
Anne Thompson: They cast you first and then had a tough time finding your leading lady. Describe the first time you met Caitriona Balfe.
Sam Heughan: The first time we screen tested together, I’d been on board the show for a couple of months. I had flown out to America different times to screen test different girls, also London and New York. They couldn’t find the right actress to play Claire, they couldn’t agree. Caitriona came in. We had a fantastic audition. We had a big scene to do by the river from Episode Nine, where Jamie and Claire go for each other. There’s dramatic high stakes. I remember tearing pieces out of each other, it was very physical, I had her in a bear hug, looking at her, and she was really pissed off at me, really angry, really strong. We were both willing to go for it. It’s important that Claire is Jamie’s foil and likewise, they’re equal.
You two are able to navigate gender power dynamics in a compelling way.
It shouldn’t be news that this is strong female lead character. It’s great. He is from the past and is a forward-thinking man, willing to understand things and take onboard her ideas and her moral code. That’s the rub, that’s the conflict. She’s trying to be tolerant in order to live in his world; he’s trying to come to grips with the way she is. Ultimately they come to understand each other.
Read more of the interview at the source
this is the most condescending article I have seen so far.
Amo esta serie, todo es real y a la vez mágico! Creo que a todos los fans nos tiene atrapados en el mismo tiempo! Excelente equipo. Gracias Amigos por compartir todas las novedades! Abrazos desde Argentina!
Reblogged this on Ana Fraser Lallybroch Blog.