We’re totally obsessed and emotionally invested in Outlander: Blood of My Blood! We love and hate these characters, and we’re here to fight for them. That’s why we were excited to attend a press conference with Tony Curran, Rory Alexander, Sam Retford, Seamus McLean Ross, and Conor MacNeill!
Here’s everything they shared about how they built their characters and what’s next for them.
Meeting the Mackenzies and the Frasers
At the beginning, all the actors give us three words that they think best describe their character. McLean Ross defined Colum McKenzie as “the eldest son of the McKenzie family. And after Red Jacob’s passing, Colum and Dougal are thrust into this world of political navigation to fight for the ultimate prize of the laird. Due to our father not leaving a clear heir, we are thrown into this world. And Colum is stoic, intense, and all-seeing.”
Retford, for his part, shared that Dougal is “loyal, passionate, and fierce.” McNeil commented that Ned Gowan is “wise, loyal, and patient.” Alexander described Murtagh as “hopeful, loyal, and romantic.” And Curran said that Lord Lovat is “devious, ambitious, and uncompromising.” And he pointed out that “he has fallen down on his luck. He lives at Castle Leathers, which unfortunately could do with a lick of paint. His clothes are somewhat ragged, he’s sold all his jewellery, and he wants to get back to the top of the echelons of his society and the clan system.”
Going deeper into Murtagh, it seems to be love at first sight when he finds Ellen. But is that something that he’s sure of it’s love? Or is it something else that’s really connecting these two? Well, Alexander answered that “it’s actually something that he tries to come to terms with through the series, especially when he’s surrounded by, that there is another love story that he kind of witnesses that he compares to his two. And he kind of tries to weigh them up and see how they match up.
“I think he doesn’t necessarily know what this feeling is. And it’s tied in with a lot of projections that he has. He wants to find his way in the world and kind of start his own family and give himself some direction. And I think he sees in Ellen kind of an opportunity to put himself in the limelight and be the center of his own story and have someone by his side who he can go on that journey with. So in a way, it is really about Ellen. And in another way, it’s kind of a projection of all of his hopes onto a person. And then he will have to reckon with that at some point. He kind of gets therapized as he goes through the season,” he ended.
Red Jacob should have chosen his successor while he was alive. That would have saved us a lot of trouble. But he didn’t, and that inevitably pits Dougal, Colum, and Ellen against each other again. Especially the first two. On this subject, Retford confessed that “neither of them is fit at this point. So trying to make that decision isn’t necessarily to hurt them or to oust them from being included. It’s actually what’s the right thing for the clan in the long term. And I think he’s waiting to see. He was arguing about his age as well, but he’s waiting to see will one of them will eventually step up.”
“Also watching it again made me think of watching the chess scene in episode one. I think he believes Ellen will find a way through that chessboard and navigate to that layer chip or that elk. I think he trusts her to navigate the world and the islands, whatever happens. She’s the one who’s got his belief. Although unfortunately for the clan and him, as he mentions, she’s a lady, a woman. Although it’s such a rogue move, I still think he knows that. He’s not dumb. I think he still knows that she will be able to pull these strings and go behind the scenes of the office to conduct her power. And you will see that throughout this season and in season two,” McLean Ross added.
Callback to Outlander
There’s a lot of myth and lore to all of the characters from Outlander. They are beloved. So Curran, Alexander, Retford, McLean Ross, and MacNeill shared what Blood of My Blood reframes or kind of complicates what we think we already know about these families and their dynamics.
Alexander said that Murtagh “is seen as this quite jaded character in the Outlander world that people know. So the opportunity to go back to the pre-trauma, as it were, to see him on the other side of that when he’s pretty wide eyed and has high hopes for himself and the world is a bit of a gift because we’re going to know where he’s going to end up, but how he gets there is going to be this kind of journey of highs and lows. So is a really fun thing to be able to show people who are interested in his story.”
McNeil commented about Ned Gowan that “whenever you see him towards the end, he’s very wise and he’s an old sage in Outlander. And this version, you see a fieriness in him that wasn’t necessarily there in the other show. And it’s kind of the journey of how he learned to become this sage old man. Especially putting up with what these guys put him through. It’s his kind of university, in a way, for it. It’s a fantastic privilege to be given the blueprints, essentially, and the end goal. And then you, as an actor, will be able to fill in those gaps. And there are an infinitesimal number of obstacles to be bounced between that allow us to end up at the Dougal, Colum, Ned, and Murtagh that we know and love. That’s a great word.”
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Curran said that his “old friend Clive Russell played Lord Lovat in Outlander originally. You first see him with Jamie and Claire. I’m going back to the sort of genesis of where a lot of these characters come from. It’s lovely to get the opportunity to play someone who actually existed. Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, fought in the Battle of Culloden before he was decapitated a few years later at the Tower of London. So to have the opportunity to play someone like this and to fill his shoes or his boots, as it were, with the sort of intensity that the writing brings is a real joy.“
McLean Ross shared that “Gary Lewis has got this kind of sardonic kind of cynicism in his portrayal of Colum in his older years. And again, I think for all of us, it’s the formative years of the characters. This is a time in Colum’s life of development. And to become a leader of a clan. That is a really interesting kind of narrative thread of such a young man who is just forced to be not only much older in his years, but also to lead a group of people in an ancient civilization.”
“And his fire in his belly, I think there’s up there for all of us. When they’re older, they’re more cynical about the world. Colum’s aspirations of what the clan can be. Also the wider society and his own ambitions are all there for him. These are the times of our lives for everyone, 18, 19 years old. So getting to live in that is a joy,” he added.
Growing Up in the Outlander Universe
So time from the based on their characters, there is an apprehension in this vacuum and what could end up happening. About that, McLean Ross shared that “there are tumultuous times, especially in Castle Leogh when the shift of power is in play, especially when it’s such a formidable character as Red Jacob, who has not only led the clan, he seized power from the previous successor. And so there is a whole new wave of potential leaders of this clan. It’s not like a king where they leave a clear birthright heir. It is epically gained through my merit and skill and deft intelligence. And so it’s going to be who has the ultimate power to achieve that against the whole sea of opposition. I think as well for Colum, it feels like it’s a vacuum that will implode.”
McNeil confessed that at the beginning, he didn’t know “if Ned can see a way through genuinely. And he has a lot to wrangle to make it work.” Curran commented that “if you look historically at any time that Scotland, England, Wales, or Ireland were left without leadership, this amazing vacuum opens up. And they are the most volatile times in history where we have these huge turning points for countries. And that’s just an absolute privilege to be able to sit inside the inner mechanisms, the socio mechanisms of those events, and really play with the ideologies that are going through people’s heads. It’s interesting you say that. There’s a volatility, but there’s also a vulnerability to the Mackenzies. And it would seem that I have with Brian and Murtaugh. I’m wanting them to go along to this clan gathering over your way, young man.”
“Lord Lovat certainly wants to keep his fingers in these pies as well, because as much as Seamus [McLean Ross] said, there’s no birthright of a king to become the head clan chieftain. Ned is obviously trying to keep these two quiet and keep them peaceful and find someone who will lead the Mackenzies with dignity and with strength. But at the same time, there’s a deviousness to who’s going to become the next. You don’t see opportunity in that vacuum. It’s not a fair game. It’s pretty Machiavellian stuff. It means every piece of information is valuable. No one can be tunnel-visioned and have their set plan. So people’s plans have to keep changing because the power structures are so unstable, which is where you get so much conflict,” Curran pointed out.
Talking about the challenge to step into the light of an already established brand with beloved characters, Curran, Alexander, Retford, McLean Ross, and MacNeill shared what they want the audience to take away when the last scene is shown. McLean Ross said that “the fact we’ve been gifted this spinoff show is just adding more contrast, more detail to an already beautiful painting. I just hope fans are more entrenched in the story and see how complex these favourite characters’ lives truly are and the years of their lives that you’ve not already seen. I think it’s just adding more depth and more drama to a brilliant, brilliant story.”
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“You’re getting a new perspective on characters you know and love so well. But you’re getting the journey of how they got to be the characters that you know and love so well. So you’re seeing an entirely new version of them in our show, I think, which is exciting. I hope it changes people’s minds about certain characters. To be able to give people so much more context, as Seamus [McLean Ross] said, could really inspire a shift in how those characters come across and the reason behind a lot of their decisions, which objectively might not align with what fans want to happen. But this at least allows a little window into the soul of where they’re coming from,” Retford added.
Alexander, for his part, commented that “Diana [Gabaldón]’s novels were adapted for television for Outlander, but with our show, the sort of new beginning, sort of the genesis of where these incredible characters hailed from, came from, we have carte blanche in that sense to do whatever we want to do, from the First World War back to the sort of First Jacobite Rebellion in 1714. So as beautifully put, Seamus [McLean Ross] mentioned the canvas that we have sitting before us, it’s sort of empty, and all these gentlemen will be waving their brushes on it. So it’ll be interesting to see what comes out of that. Hopefully, the fans will respond to it.”
Curran pointed out that “to follow on from what Seamus [McLean Ross] said about the tapestry, you’re never quite sure what fans are going to take away or which storyline or character it is that they’re going to relate to. And because the characters are so detailed and there are a few stories that you can follow, everyone kind of has an opportunity to let something resonate with them that might be different from someone else who watches the show. So I’m hoping that with the themes and some of the setups that we have, then people will be able to personally engage in quite different ways than how we’re expecting, which would be exciting too.“
Building Their Characters in Outlander: Blood of My Blood
Talking about the process to build their characters, Alexander confessed that “Matthew [B. Roberts] and Maril [Davis] kind of encouraged it not to don’t go in and try and do an impersonation. I’d watched some of it before starting the process, but then I tried to stop so that I didn’t just do a bad impression of Duncan [Lacroix] and kind of ruin what he had already done. But I think because it is the same world and universe, like once you step into that, there are some pretty clear guidelines around. So you feel like you’re very much walking the same path, but just wearing kind of slightly different shoes.”
“Then I’m hoping that once what I’m doing is really firmed up, then I’ll get to go back and watch what Duncan [Lacroix] did, like safe in the knowledge that I’m not going to now change what I’m doing following him. But, basically, just learn more about the character and just to enjoy seeing what Duncan [Lacroix] did from a different perspective,” he pointed out.
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MacNeill, for his part, commented that “it’s nice having the show as well, because you know the destination. So like you get to make the journey and the plan for the journey to get to that destination. So it doesn’t mean that you’re making a replica of what they’re doing. And people change, especially when you’re 18, 19 years old, playing characters like Colum and Dougal. These guys have aspirations. They didn’t think they were like Colum, certainly didn’t think he would have legs like he does. He didn’t think he would face such obstacles as fighting for the leadership with his brother. So life throws all sorts of obstacles at you.”
Curran shared that “seeing where your characters end up gives you the freedom to show how you got there. Regards to Lord Lovat, I’d watched like three or four seasons of Outlander because my wife loves the show and all her friends love it. So I’d watched quite a lot of it. But I went and did a sort of historical, political deep dive into Simon Fraser. My nephew gave me this first edition book that he lives in Nuremberg in Germany. And he was at a little bookshop one day and he found this first edition in 1903 or something. It was a biography about Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat, written by a McKenzie—the irony is lost on us all. And I just started flicking through it, it was over a hundred years old, this book. You could smell the history.”
“And then there were all these incredible little fruits of little gems about how Lovat played both sides. He’d play the Jacobites, he’d be with the Redcoats. And this individual, by all means necessary, what he wanted to do, he would do to get work, to get back on top of the glory days, as it were. So I think any actor doing a little bit of research like that is always helpful. You can find some gemstones. And all of the sort of art and design then leads to characters, leads to us bleeding into the characters rather than us replicating them,” he ended.
Retford explained that he thinks that “it’s down really to the writing and the costumes. You are physically stepping into those shoes. So we can bring those early days. Then we can be a completely different person by the time we get to them in 30 years. They’ve been through so much.”
Friendships and Rivalries
Talking about the friendship that develops between Henry Beauchamp and Ned Gowan, MacNeill shared that “initially the friendship isn’t a friendship. It’s a curiosity about what Clan Grant is doing with this English bladier and what their intentions are, given the kind of precarious situation that the McKenzies are in. And then it develops into a friendship because they have a lot of similarities. They’re longing for love, their loyalty to their lovers.”
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“You get a little glimpse of Ned’s past throughout the series that is really interesting and is very like what Henry is going through. But also, Henry’s incredibly intelligent, so he can have a genuine heart-to-heart with them and open up. And I think that that’s really lovely. I love acting with Jeremy, he’s brilliant. And I think we’re both very serious about our work, but don’t take ourselves very seriously. So there’s a lot of fun in shooting those scenes and we push each other in the right way. So yeah, it’s been really, really great,” he ended.
As for Colum and Dougal, they’re on the same quest, but only one can be chosen as Laird. So McLean Ross and Retford work together to establish the sibling rivalry and tension between their characters. About this process, McLean Ross shared that “it was just really fun to act with Sam [Retford]. Their scenes are so good, and Sam [Retford] just has this presence as Dougal that just infuriates Colum. Every attempt Colum tries to make of trying to reason with him, to lecture him, to assault him with his kind of onslaught of abuse towards him, of how frustrated he finds him, Dougal just rejects it. And likewise, with Dougal to Colum, the two of them just don’t listen to each other, which makes for just a fire in your belly because it’s just so infuriating.”
Retford, for his part, commented that “Matthew B. Roberts is mainly responsible for the frustration that I feel within scenes. It’s so easy to play when the writing is, essentially sketches out these journeys where they are having a monologue, even when they’re talking to each other, because neither of them is listening to each other.”
“They’re just both keep hammering down this same path, and it’s so frustrating as an outsider to look into that, and you really, you have so much empathy for it because you’re just like, ‘please listen to each other,’ and that’s where our gorgeous Ned [Gowan] comes in. They’re incredibly stubborn, Ned’s got a heck of a job to do. I think we want to get the reward of seeing that, because in the original show, you see them come together, and there’s a much more mutual respect than you see in our show. So this series will show how that came to be,” he ended.
Knowing their Characters in Outlander: Blood of My Blood
Going deeper into their characters, all the actors discussed what they like and dislike about their characters and portraying them. About that, Curran said that he likes “the fact that Lord Lovat’s got a single-mindedness. He’s got this sort of drive, this ambition, this uncompromising attitude that is pretty impressive, but is also extremely dangerous. I admire elements of that. But apart from that, playing a megalomaniac narcissist, there’s not much else that I would want my children to be like Lord Lovat, frankly. But his single-mindedness and his drive, I think are very impressive.“
Retford shared that “Dougal’s less talking, more punching attitude is extremely fun to play. It’s something that doesn’t require too much meditative thought. And that is great fun to go to work and do.” McLean Ross commented that he loves “the kind of masked male vulnerability that Colum has of trying to be a man, whereas he feels all at sea inside himself. It’s so fun to play and something I like every guy can connect with.“ MacNeill, for his part, loves “Ned’s patience. I would love to have more of Ned’s patience and also his quick-fire solutions that he somehow just pulls out of thin air at times. I would love to have that.“
And Alexander confessed that he wishes his character “were more like my character in Call the Midwife. But it’s a different time period. Mert is very wide-eyed. He’s full of hope. He’s a bit like a clown who keeps getting knocked over and he just kind of springs back up again, like covered in slightly more mud and like with a slightly bigger bruise. And he’s not resilient, but he does just keep bouncing back, which I admire. But sometimes I just wish he’d stand up for himself a little bit more and maybe not always bow down to what this man tells him to do.”
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With a series like Blood of My Blood, that blends a lot of romantic situations as well as action sequences, all the cast shared what they get most nervous about. Retford shared that “there’s obviously a lot of sensuality in this show. There’s a lot of sexuality and action. There’s no stone unturned. I remember the first time, if we can say the first time I came on set, was the first scene that you see me in that situation, in episode one.”
“You always get a little bit nervous, because obviously it’s the Outlander world, but coming up on that balcony the first time was definitely a little nerve-racking. But anytime I take my clothes off, I’m always nervous for everybody else. I think the big emotional scenes are the ones that I think about the most. Action, it’s great, but like, you have a lot of adrenaline and there’s like all the stunties around you. And it just makes it easy,” he pointed out.
McLean Ross pointed out that “whenever we come to work, everything is geared towards us feeling as connected as a team as possible. And it’s very hard not to feel excited when you rock up. Everyone’s purpose there is to make the show look and feel as great and entertaining as possible. And just to blend into that family and have fun creating something. On the day, I’d say it doesn’t feel like you’re making this massive show. It feels like you’re playing and creating with friends and making a fab piece of entertainment.”
Breaking the Fourth Wall
Finally, the actors send a message to new fans wanting to just join in on the series. MacNeill shared that “I think you’re getting elements of the characters you love so well that you’ve never seen before. And I think you’re seeing aspects of the journey of how they all ended up where they end up and how those characters became who they are in Blood of My Blood, which isn’t in Outlander. So for that, I think ‘come and watch Blood of My Blood.’ The show’s so beautifully crafted in the way that it stands so firmly on its own foundations.”
“And there will be so much in there for the fans of the original show, so much more that they can extrapolate all of these Easter eggs. So there’s another dimension of fun that can be taken away from the show. But like I say, it really does stand as a piece on its own. And yeah, you don’t need any advice, only to come and switch on and switch off,” Alexander added.
McLean Ross, for his part, commented that “I think an origin story is always fascinating, going back to where we hail from and how these men and women and these clans and these people traveling through time, how that came to be. Were Jamie’s parents and Claire’s parents, how did they travel through time or not? And I think that’s a fascinating element of the story as well with the feuding clans. So hopefully people will tune in because it’s going to be a hell of a ride. There’s something about everyone.”
Finally, Curran confessed that “I think that it’ll be pretty easy for fans of the previous series to just jump right in and enjoy it as well as new fans to come in. And I will say that you all did a remarkable job portraying these characters, especially Seamus [McLean Ross] and Conor [MacNeill]. I even noticed some of the way they all spoke and the mannerisms that they use, it embodied those characters. And they gave it an original spin as well. So we’re going to get everybody involved in watching the series. I’ve said to Connor [MacNeill] that there are elements in his performance, very subtle, that ring true of the original. And the same happens with Seamus [McLean Ross]. These little details are beautiful to see within their character, a sort of journey. So both old and new fans can just jump right in.”
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on STARZ.
