Outlander: Blood of My Blood is here! We’ve already met Brian, Ellen, Julia, and Henry, and we’re obsessed with them. We sat down with stars Harriet Slater, Jamie Roy, and Hermione Corfield in a roundtable interview to dissect what makes Ellen, Brian, and Julia who they are and how they fit with their soulmates.
Love at First Sight
As for what draws all the couples to each other, Roy thinks that, for Brian and Ellen “it’s very much love at first sight. It’s described in the script as a thunderclap moment when lightning strikes and these two souls who are destined to be together finally meet. So I think they fall in love before they even know who the other is. It’s not until the second meeting that they discover they’re actually from rival clans. And the whole thing’s going to be pretty awkward. But it’s too late. They’ve already decided that their hearts belong to each other. They’re gonna stick with it and overcome all the obstacles together.“
Corfield, for her part, shared that, Julia and Henry’s romance is a bit different because “it’s an epistolary romance to begin with. It’s a meeting of minds through words. And then when they do finally meet, that’s more about the physical and luckily they do fancy each other because that would be a real shame if they didn’t. I guess it’s kind of similar actually to Brian because there’s a magnetism we always talk about.”
Going deeper into Brian and Ellen’s romance, we already saw that Brian was delusional about the idea of courting. He’s fully fine with being single for the rest of his life. But that’s when he meets Ellen. But, what is it about her that draws him in?
Roy shared that “is there something that fully changes his mind that opens his heart more. I think he sees a lovely-looking girl with ginger hair and there’s a magnetism about it. Brian’s not there looking for love. And when he hears this sassy remark from someone behind slats, which you can’t see, and then he gives it right back. They have this little bit of banter. I think it’s that which catches him unaware and then gets him curious. And then obviously, when he sees her for the first time, he thinks that Ellen is the most beautiful person he’s ever seen in his life. And this chemistry just sparks fly.”
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Outlander‘s Legacy in Blood of My Blood
Claire and Jamie are often described as soulmates. And Outlander gave us some clues about the romance between Brian and Ellen and Julia and Henry. So, it was a tricky balancing act for Slater, Roy, and Corfield to explore new angles of these characters that fit with what we saw in the parent series.
Roy shared that it was “really fun to explore characters, which we don’t really know much about because it gives you as an actor, a lot of freedom to have fun with it and kind of make it your own and put a stamp on it. And it’s something that you don’t have all the answers at the start. Because as humans, we’re constantly changing and evolving. And that’s just what happens with these characters throughout 10 episodes. He’s a totally different guy from who he was in episode 10. And that was really fun for me to explore and find these different shades, these different sides of Brian. Yeah, that’s a good way of putting it, actually.”
For her part, Slater commented that she “was kind of confused, actually, at times in the beginning about who Ellen actually was, because it seems like she’s a million different people with everyone that she encounters and interacts with. But actually, that’s a really good point. None of us is one person, are we? We are different, depending on who we’re with a lot of the time. We’re adaptable.”
She went on to add, “And there’s a nice familiarity, I think, in revisiting these characters for season two; like you’re like coming home in a way. But at the same time, again, they have grown, it feels like they’ve grown and evolved even since the first season. And their relationships have changed, the dynamics are different, which is really fun to play, because it’s never boring, it’s very unpredictable, you never know where they’re going to go next, or how they’re going to respond to a situation, much like life, I guess.“
In this same sense, taking into account what we know about the characters in Outlander, Slater, Roy, and Corfield confessed what they hope fans will discover or re-evaluate about their characters and their story by watching Blood of My Blood. Roy answered that “maybe different versions of love. I feel like it’s a story about love. So maybe through the lens of each character you learn. It’s like you’re looking at love through a different lens, whether that’s familial love between brothers or between father and son, or romantic love between different partners and how that grows and develops.”
Corfield agreed and pointed out that “Henry and Julia’s love is completely different because it’s like, it’s established already. Neither of them has ever experienced love before, not romantic love anyway, and then not expecting it at all. It kind of hits them both and rocks their worlds.”
Entering the Outlander universe is no small feat. It’s beautiful, but it can also come with added pressure. In this regard, Roy confessed that they “were aware of how big and successful and beloved Outlander is. And so there was an element of wanting to live up to the expectations and having big boots to fill. But I think it just motivated us to want to work really hard and do a really good job and make a show that we could be proud of and that fans would enjoy. And I think we all feel like we’ve done that.”
Slater shared that “it’s only been the support from the fans, like from the very beginning. They’ve been wonderful and they’re so excited to see the show, which is a really nice feeling.” While Corfield commented that they had “the support and acceptance from Sam [Heughan] and Caitriona [Balfe]. Everybody has just been so supportive of us and wants us to do a good job. So that means a lot because they could easily not care and not want to say anything. But no, they’ve been really, really lovely.”
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Characters Who Mark a Path
There’s no doubt that Ellen, Brian, and Julia are characters who have influenced Slater, Roy, and Corfield and taught them things about themselves. Regarding this, Slater confessed that she has “more in common with my character than I thought I did in the beginning, which is actually a really nice thing, because I actually admired her in many ways. And now I admire myself. I found a lot of strength through her and realized that I trust myself and my voice a lot more now than I did in the beginning.“
Roy for his part, pointed out that “Brian has a really strong sense of stoicism like controlling what he can control and accepting everything that he can. And I think that’s something I’ve tried to put into my own life. And it’s a lot of stress relief because it makes life so much easier and simpler. Some days I still do, but I’m working on it.”
And Corfield shared that “Julia can talk her way out of anything. She’s got a real knack for finding a means to get out of a situation. And I’d quite like to take some of that into my own life. I’d never find myself necessarily in the situations that Julia finds herself in. But I do think she has a knack for manoeuvring around scenarios in quite a skilful way.“ Slater added that, listening to Corfield, made her “realise we actually are very similar in that sense. Ellen and Julia kind of have to be because they’re women in a really difficult male male-dominated time and society. So they have to use other ways to manoeuvre situations and save themselves. They’re like a caged lion.”
Talking about the characters, every one of them is faced with a hard choice where there is an easier path and none of them take it. Slater, Roy, and Corfield shared where they find the strength to stay true to their choice.
Roy shared that “there was something I read about when writers are doing stuff, and it’s like our audiences love to see characters make difficult choices, and it’s a testament, first of all, to the writing, because it’s written so well that way, and it makes it exciting for us to play. In terms of the character, for Brian, he has to make this choice of whether to pursue the one person with whom he shouldn’t be in any world, and if he does that, does he tell his best friend about it, and it creates this dynamic of push and pull.”
He also went on to add, “But ultimately, for Brian, he doesn’t want anything in his life. He’s very, very happy with where he is, and all of a sudden, he meets this love of his and he wants something again, and he chooses to pursue this one want in his life because he thinks it’s worth it. But that’s a very difficult path he’s gone down. I think they also all follow their hearts over their heads, which is why they make the difficult choices.”
Corfield added that “they’re all romantic, so they follow their hearts. And Julia also does do that, but I think a lot of her choices are perhaps more for her children than for herself. I think it’s all in the name of protecting children. But again, it’s love, isn’t it? I think love is what drives them all to make the decisions that they make. I think it just proves that love is the strongest force in the world. It’s stronger than hate and fear and everything.”
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Fathers and Sons
Speaking about what fathers do for their sons, Ellen and Brian have such different relationships with their fathers, and those relationships shaped who they become.
On this subject, Roy shared that, for Brian, living with his father is like living “in a nightmare, but it’s one that he’s chosen to live with, because if he leaves, then who knows what might happen to his mom, Davina, who lives there. And Brian definitely sees his father as everything that he doesn’t want to be.”
Roy added, “He sees how he treats women, how he treats everyone, his ambition, all this stuff, and he sees how much it’s corrupted him as a person. And he’s really taken that and flipped it on its head, because he sees what’s happened to his father, and he doesn’t want that kind of life. So he just tries to do the opposite. And then thankfully, he has a mother who is full of nothing but love and support. And that’s where he learns how to love from. So it’s a nice balance between the two.”
Slater commented that “with Ellen, I think her father was her best friend, and they were really, really close. And she was his favorite child, which he didn’t hide. So that causes some difficulties with her siblings, because there’s definitely jealousy there. But I think he trusted her. He listened to her. She was kind of an advisor to him at times. And for her, he protected her.”
And she added that, when it comes down to it, “She doesn’t want to marry for the sake of the clan, which is what’s expected of women at the time. And he promises that he won’t make her do that. So once he’s gone, she’s left very vulnerable. But I think Ellen is her father’s daughter, and it’s he who gives her the strength to fight. And the education, he provides her an education, which is what makes her so smart and able to then influence her brothers to gain back what little power she can have. It’s because of that that she manages to find some agency and save herself from the situations that she finds herself in.”
We couldn’t agree more and can’t wait to see everything next for these characters!
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on STARZ.
