Honestly, if Julia and Henry managed to connect with us in Outlander: Blood of My Blood, it was thanks to Hermione Corfield and Jeremy Irvine. They have a connection that transcends the screen. And luckily for us, we sat down to talk with both stars about Julia and Henry’s journey throughout the show and everything to come in Season 2.
Finding Their Place in the Outlander Universe
When Outlander: Blood of My Blood premiered, no one really knew how us, Outlander fans, would react. But now, Corfield and Irvine are taking it all in and feeling the love from everyone. Irvine admits the calm didn’t last long. “We did Season 1 in England bliss and didn’t really realize. We were told it was a beloved show but we didn’t really get it so yeah, in Season 1 I was relaxed as anything. Now I’m like, geez, we gotta deliver,” he shared.
Corfield, on the other hand, felt the pressure early on. “I think I was really nervous in Season 1 because I didn’t know if we were going to be accepted into the universe, and I think now we’ve been accepted as Claire’s parents it’s quite a nice feeling. I mean, on the whole, that’s been a lovely response,” she confessed.
MORE: Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1, Episode 10 Review: ‘Something Borrowed’
Secrets And Theories
Both agree that the warm welcome from fans exceeded their expectations. “It’s been amazing. None of us were expecting it. I mean it’s a passionate fan base, and I think we all were nervous. So, you know, to be welcomed as we have been, it’s been just, just so so lovely,” Corfield said.
With so many mysteries in Outlander: Blood of My Blood — especially surrounding Claire’s brother — we’re buzzing with theories! Corfield and Irvine love how invested we all have become. And they teased what it’s next. “We know very little. Often, I think the fans know more than us. The fans have like a board when they have the pictures and they try to make the theories and I’m like, ‘I hadn’t thought of this but like people are so smart’,” Corfield commented.
Irvine agrees completely. “Well, it’s worth doing because there’s nothing in this show by accident. Our writers are clever people. If there’s something in there and you think it doesn’t mean anything, a few episodes later you’ll… yeah, it comes up,” he pointed out.
MORE: What Will Julia & Henry’s Future Be After the Blood of My Blood Season Finale?
Building Julia and Henry’s Relationship
When asked about portraying Claire’s parents — characters who weren’t deeply explored in Outlander — Corfield shared that “we knew less about Claire’s parents than we knew about Jamie’s parents, so you guys had to sort of build something out of less information.”
Their love story evolves dramatically over the course of ten episodes. “They’ve lived a lifetime,” Irvine said. Corfield agreed, “They have. I think it’s only been about a year actually, in terms of… is it a year? Maybe.”
Irvine added, “Yeah, they’ve been through a hell of a lot, I think. They were equipped for a few challenges. Their marriage had a few challenges even when they were back in London. But I think this is throwing a whole new set of hurdles for them to overcome.”
Corfield, for her part, shared how much Julia has changed. “They’ve both had to rely on their wits so they’ve become probably a lot tougher than when we first saw them in London. Although they obviously had to go through quite a fair amount themselves. Before that point I think this is really toughen them up even more. Julia’s had to learn how to be canny because I remember watching the first episode and thinking ‘what is this? Why are they in the past?’,” she said.
And when it comes to auditioning, things were less clear. “I didn’t know anything about time travel,” Corfield admitted. “I think I read episode one maybe before auditioning. No, we got some one and two, surely.”
Irvine was trying to remember and shared that “it was all about me and Hermione [Corfield] but it was a bit of a whirlwind coming on to this. But I think I would have been so disappointed if I’d been a part of an Outlander show and didn’t get to wear a kilt. Never going to get to do it again, I need to wear a kilt once an episode.”
MORE: Will Seema Be a Problem for Henry & Julia in Blood of My Blood?
Survival, Mistakes, and Forgiveness
As the season progresses, Julia and Henry face impossible choices — ones that challenge their love and their understanding of each other.
Corfield confessed that they “discussed this at length, because obviously you’re going to empathize with your character, but I do think Julia’s had to sleep with Lovat for survival, her survival and also their child’s survival. Henry hasn’t so much had to sleep with anyone for survival but he also wasn’t in his right mind so I don’t know, I think it’s a slightly harder pill to swallow what Henry’s done, in my opinion.”
Irvine agreed with Corfield in this. “I’m sorry but I agree. I mean, it happened in that episode where we see Henry completely unravel. And he goes and finds Seema and thinks it’s Julia. It’s a very delicate thing to do that because it would be very easy for the audience to just not like him after that and get off and not be on his side. But this is a very, very damaged man.”
“And the difficulty will come in explaining that to Julia’s wife — I mean, I can only imagine, if I tried to say that to my wife, ‘I thought it was you.’ I’ll tell you what, it’s going to make for some very good scenes coming up. There’s some interesting scenes coming up in Season 2 where we have to address that,” Irvine shared.
Talking about Season 2, we asked if they can share anything about the next season, Irvine confessed that “it starts in a place which I had no idea — I mean I wouldn’t have seen it coming. I went in for a costume thing and they showed me this costume and I went, ‘what on earth is that for?’ All this before I’d seen the script. So, yeah, things take some very exciting turns.”
And we can’t wait!
Outlander: Blood of My Blood Season 1 aired on Fridays on STARZ.
