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Remember to tip my Anons on your way out

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Cait in Madrid

I believe this is the closest I'm gonna be to her ever. Here's my take on the interview, just a few notes really cause I was mostly listening to her and looking at her. And the most important part, on my opinion, what kinda feels like a little spoiler for the finale right here:

My notes:

- She's gorgeous

- She brought her mom with her

- She took Claire's rings from set and Sony sent her the blue vase.

- Her take on the finale, you can watch in the video to hear her literal words and gestures (I do believe they are gonna mess it all up big way, as in tying all the loose knots together = the satisfaction, but with a lot of drama and tears involved so it's gonna be really sad). Please note the parenthesis is MY OWN belief based on her words, not actually anything she said).

- she's very nice, a fan, a blonde woman brought something in a little box, she talked to some stuff member, the guy took it and gave it to Cait wherever she was before appearing, and then the same guy came back and told the blonde woman to go with him to meet Cait because I think she wanted to thank her in person.

- she got emotional while watching the recap of the 8 seasons specially when clips from the first seasons came up.

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Remember the special screening and conversation in London?

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Remember how the crowd went wild? 🎡 🎪 🤡 🎢 🎠

Wee joke… 🤹🏻‍♀️

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Ummm Wow! 😮

Posted 6th March 2026

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Screenshot: Instagram

Remember… my son has quite an English accent, but the (Celtic ⚽️football) words that he has only heard from my husband are very very Scottish. So he'll be like, you know, very English and then he'll be like “MacGregor” and we're like “What?” - Caitríona Balfe

Later edit… Da at a Celtics game (originally posted 1 May 2021)

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Remember… red is the first colour of spring. It's the real colour of rebirth. Of beginning. — Ally Condie

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Remember… Caitríona appears on Live with Kelly and Mark on Friday, the 6th of March.

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Just when they thought it was safe to go back in the water 😉

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Remember… the glamorous dinner at Lou Lou's celebrated an exceptional international gathering of filmmakers and creative visionaries, bringing together some of the most compelling directors and storytellers working today. — Charles Finch and Partners

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Outlander’s Caitríona Balfe Bids Farewell: ‘A Quarter of Our Lives’

Caitríona Balfe from 'Outlander' is photographed for TV Guide/TVInsider.com on October 17, 2024, at New York Comic-Con at Jacob Javitz Center in New York City.Read Less | Matt Doyle Photo/Contour by Getty

“[Outlander] has been a quarter of our lives! An insane amount of time.”

Caitríona Balfe reflects on the final season of Starz’s epic historical drama Outlander, taking time to decompress after wrapping and how she decides what comes next.

It's such a pleasure to meet you. When I told people that I was doing this interview, I can’t tell you how many people freaked out about Outlander. I know of the show, obviously, but people go mad for this show. The audience is wildly in love with it.

I guess because we've been around for a while. A little over 10 years, right? Yeah, we first aired in 2014. And I think also because the show has also gone into syndication and people are finding it still. And it's amazing it does always kind of blow me away how many people watch it. And the kind of...breadth of people who watch it? It's like it traverses all kinds of age groups and it's men and women and it's younger people now a lot. I think it was a slightly older demographic in the beginning, but it's great.

And how active they are on social media! And some of the fan fiction! I really discovered some things that I didn't know.

We've all learned a few things in Outlander.

Caitríona Balfe (L) and Sam Heughan (R) in STARZ’s Outlander. Credit: STARZ. | Starz

But they get really invested! Especially in the two leads, you as Claire and Sam Heughan as Jamie. And it created spin-offs!

They've got the prequel now. [Blood of My Blood.] I think it's just this beautiful love story. I think that is just such a positive and hopeful thing to invest in. I think people need that. So it has been really amazing to be part of something that has meant a lot to people. I think that's a really special thing.

How does the end of this chapter feel for you? Because this is a massive part of your career!

It was all my career for a long time. It's such a mixed bag of emotions—I think there's obviously a lot of pride, and I feel so proud to have been part of something like this. It is sad; any ending is sad. But I think it's also doing something for a decade plus. When we finished the show, Sam [Heughan] and I were both like "Wow, this has been a quarter of our lives!" An insane amount of time to be playing one character and being involved in one show. So it also felt like, "Okay, as an actor and as a person, I'm ready for new challenges," and that's exciting and scary. But to have had the education that I've had on the show, to have the experiences I've had, to have formed the relationships I've had, I just feel so grateful for that.

Without giving anything away, do you feel like the story—your character's story—comes full circle in the end? Do you feel like it's a satisfying ending for her?

It's hard to know, right? Because like, what is a satisfying ending? You don't want your character to end. I feel like Claire found peace, in some ways. Well, no, actually that's...there's never peace on Outlander. There's always drama. But I feel like, in terms of the overall thing, she's with her family. And I think that that felt very appropriate and that this season especially there's a lot of people coming back together, and that was really beautiful. But I've lived with her from—in the show she traverses from the age of like 27, 28 I think in the beginning, that's how old she was, and by the time we finished she's supposed to be in her 60s. So that's a life. And I think that you just have to be, I don't know, there's no kind of proper ending. It is all part of itself. Does that make sense?

It totally makes sense. And also, too, with a show this big, with the fan base that's writing fan fiction and doing the things that they do, that must be a lot of pressure going in for creatives—but also for the actors involved—going into a final season to give that final season what they expect, or what hopefully the fans want. Was there pressure there?

I think Sam and I especially felt a lot of responsibility to end this show in a really strong way. It's funny because I think it's the season that we knew the least about. Because I think the writers were very...they didn't want to give any spoilers. So we never knew at any point what was gonna happen until we got the scripts. And that was new because I think in previous seasons we'd always get an overview. And so it was really interesting because it was exciting in a way because we're like, "Okay, well, we have no idea where this is going." And that’s probably the best thing, because I think otherwise we probably would have been trying to steer it one way or another or something. But as a control freak that I am, it was hard to give up that control a little bit. So yeah, there is no way I think to end anything in a perfect way. I think you just have to let it be and go with it and enjoy the ride. So we tried to do that.

Over the course of the series, as it became more popular, both you and Sam had more involvement. You became a producer on the show. And that I think is only fair because you're so wedded to these characters. Of course you want to have a stake in maybe even the discussion of where this character's going, how she ends up. From a producing standpoint, how much involvement did you have?

Well, this season was interesting because I got to direct as well. So in the very beginning, I felt that I was part of so many conversations, and it was really interesting. I was there from the very first day of prep. I started prep about five, six weeks before we started shooting. So I got be involved in conversations about like bills and things like that...the new house that was built and all of that, and it was amazing. Because as an actor I could bring something to the table as a producer that maybe other people didn't, so I got to have conversations with our set designer being like "Well, we need places like this or this" and to be able to do stuff and that affected how the build went, and that was amazing. But it was really funny because then after I directed my episode—which is episode two—I had to go back to, like, not knowing. And I was like, "Hold on. I'm not part of these conversations..." And other people are in those rooms instead. So personally, that was hard because, as I said, I am a control freak. But yeah, it was interesting not knowing where your character was going to go, especially [in] the last season. I was constantly like, "What's happening? What's happening, like what's going to happen?" And they'd be like, "We can't tell you." It did drive me nuts.

Sam Heughan (L) and Caitríona Balfe (R) in STARZ’s Outlander. Credit: STARZ.

But it probably made the performance.

Well, that's the thing. You have to then take every moment as it comes to you. And there was something great in that, too.

What I think is so amazing about a show that is on for a long time—any show I'm thinking, even like sitcoms like Friends or whatnot—you see the performers on the show become full-fledged creative forces in their own way. And you, of course, are a great example of that over the course of this series. Not even just producing, but then going into directing, but also the start of even more higher-value film work and things you're doing in film spaces. Why was it important for you to direct more? And do you want to be doing more of that in the future?

Yeah, I would love to. I think just being on set all the time and watching how the decisions get made and watching other people direct and watching people who I was like, "Oh, I really love how you're doing this." And then watching some other people and you're like, "Hmm, if I were doing that, I would do it differently." And I just thought I am always aware, as an actor, of my limited ability within storytelling in the terms of—as Caitríona, who I am, the age I am, the way I look, all of these things there are only a certain amount of avenues for me to tell stories in a way. And you become sort-of limited in your casting. It's like, you're this age group so you're gonna get roles that are in this age group, or you're female, so you're going to get roles that are this. I love storytelling, and I love telling different stories. And so I just wanted to expand my ability to do that. And also, I just found it so interesting how, as an actor doing one character, you become so micro-focused on that role and what that character's role and journey. But as a director, you get to be over everything. And you see the bigger picture. That part I found really interesting. I just loved it. Like when I got to do it, there were so many new things and exciting things that I didn't really understand went into it, like all of the prep stuff and how you take a script from that first day and how you start building your visual language, building your thematic language throughout the whole thing. All of that was so interesting. And then just getting to work with all of the different departments, it’s so exciting and you get to see the amazing talent that comes together to make an entire project. I had the best time, and it was really hard then to go back and just be like, "All right, I'm just gonna stay in my lane." Well, especially for a control freak.

You've also worked both on Outlander and outside of Outlander in films with great directors. Was there any influence that you had in terms of your directing style that you look back on with other directors?

Oh, of course. I think, I am a magpie—constantly stealing from people—and just inspired by people. I've been so lucky. I've worked with Jodie Foster as a director, Jim Mangold as director, who's like amazing. I think Jim is so jovial and like... Jim is never afraid to give anybody a direct note, and I think that's the one thing with the directors that I've loved working with, like Kenneth Branagh. It's the specificity of direction. I think the worst thing any director can do is try and tentatively walk around an actor and be afraid to tell them "no." We all like direct notes and, you know, obviously given with kindness and an understanding of the vulnerability of the process. But I've been so lucky with the people and also all of the directors I've worked with, how generous they have been once they know that I'm interested in directing with their kind of advice and showing you and also cameramen and women and all the people in those departments. Like, they're always willing to share information. They all want to give that. They want to impart all their knowledge. I've just been so lucky to work with great people.

I recently interviewed James L. Brooks for his new film, and he was talking about the directing style and what he loves about directing, particularly some of the women he's directed over the years. And one of the things that he said that stands out to me from what you're saying is that a great director is just obsessed with actors and is just in love with what an actor can do with whatever they put on, whatever they take from what they're giving or the director's giving or writer's giving, or in his case, writer-director. And for an actor then to go into directing, I've talked with other actors, like recently with Tyler James Williams from Abbott Elementary about how he's directing episodes now, too, and that experience of directing your colleagues, your fellow actors, it actually—from what he tells me—it's heightened because you have this serious relationship with this person, it’s a secondhand language that you have with maybe Sam and directing him or whatever it might be. Did you experience that?

Oh, my God, I was so scared. I think my first day I had this seven-page scene with Sam and Richard [Rankin]. And I was like, "Oh, my God," like "They're really throwing me in the deep end!’" But I was so unprepared for the fact that I would stand behind the monitor, and I would have this like Cheshire cat grin on my face because I was just enjoying watching them and because I do know them so well, I'm like, "I can see what he's going for." And I think I know how I can help him just that one little bit, either amplify it or put it down because like in the whole piece. And it was beautiful. Also because you're never watching your co-star or your scene partner as an audience member when you're in a scene with them. You're never watching them, you're affecting each other and you're with them. So then to be able to watch them, and I was like, "Oh, my God," like, "I get it." Not that I didn't, but like you're watching in a different way. And you're like, "Wow." And with Richard, it was just—all of them. I loved that relationship. To go in and just help all of them get to where I could see they want to go. And most of the time it's staying out of their way. It's like, if ever there's a moment where you can see somebody needs a little adjustment, then to be able to do that was so amazing.

With Claire, what were you first attracted to when you first received the script, and how do you feel like you've seen the evolution of her?

That's a really interesting question. I don't know, because when I was given the script, I was a struggling actor in L.A. I was just trying to get any job. And I remember getting the first audition, and I put it on tape, and then never heard anything. And then I met with an agent in London. He was like, "There's a role, and I think you'd be really good for it." And he was explaining it. And I was like "Oh no, I think I've already taped for that." And he was like, "Send me the tape." So I sent him, and he was like "Oh." Because I had only gotten two lines of an explanation or whatever at the time. And he's like, "Oh no, this is a much deeper breakdown of who the character is. Like I think he should re-tape it." And I did, and I sent it in and that was when they were like, "Oh, we want to test you." So I had four days, and I read the book in four days, which is.... These books are not...they're pretty thick. So I remember—this was L.A,. so it was like nice, I could lie out in the sun and like just, but from the book—because I didn't have a script, I only had two scenes or whatever—from the book I was just like, "Oh my God, like—this woman's amazing, this world is amazing, this would be the most insane adventure." And then, I tested for that, but I don't know that I, I think the Caitríona that met Claire, it was perfect synchronicity, because I think where I was at in my life, I could relate to that idea of being thrown into something, because I was so green. And had I been a more experienced actor, maybe I wouldn't have understood that kind of, lack of knowledge of anything in the same way that Claire was experiencing when she went back in time first. There was this, I don't know, there was a synchronicity there.

Which really worked! Also on paper, even just the IMDB description of the show, I'm always kind of enjoying it because when you read it, it sounds kind of bonkers. But then when you watch it...

When you watch it and explain it in the beginning and people are like, "What?"

Caitríona Balfe on the set of STARZ’s Outlander. Credit: STARZ.

Well, when you watch it, you see how epic it is and how grand it is and how big it is. And the story is just so intimate. And there's a poignancy to it, but yet in the description, you're like, "Wait, what does she do?"

I think that was also, you talk about synchronicity and meeting things in life at the right time. Like I just had my heart broken. I remember then when we started filming and it was like all of this grief that I had to play and heartbreak and everything. And I was like, "Oh my God, this is all just like my life," you now? And then the falling in love was like, I was finding myself. Like it was all perfectly in sync for where I was at that time. And that first season—it's such a beautiful story where Diana got it...like downloading from wherever it was. It's such a beautiful...it's just it's a beautiful, inspirational and hopeful story. Also violent and crazy. Of course, yeah. But the two together really work.

To have those 12 years to look back on, that must be special in a way, to see that your career quite literally grew over the seasons and who you are as an actor and where you've gone. It's so impressive to watch!

That show has given me so much. It has opened so many doors for me. But it gave me the most incredible education. It allowed me to explore so many different facets of humanity and human emotion and all of these things. And yet there's also action and there's bits of comedy and all of these things. It encompasses so much. And I learned so much on that show, and I grew so much as a person, as an actor. Yeah, it will always forever be a huge life-defining part of me and my story.

Speaking of your film work, it defined you as an actor, and it also allowed you to do roles that I think are really special and different and kind of new. Just the list of films you've done while being on Outlander is so unique in the span of the stories that are being told and from The Amateur to Belfast, so many. How do you feel the show and playing Claire changed the type of roles you're offered or that you're able to pursue?

First of all, it allowed me to be offered anything. I think, especially in the beginning. I was a struggling actor in L.A. I had done some very, very small roles prior to Outlander. And all of a sudden, you're getting put up for things that you would never normally be in the conversation for. And it gives you confidence, because you have thousands of hours of work behind you all of a sudden, and you have that comfort of being able to just perform, I think that's the thing—regular work gives you confidence, and confidence is key to being an actor. But I've been so lucky. It doesn't feel like I did that much because we had such a long schedule, but I think the great thing that I had was also the ability to wait. And wait for a good role and wait for things that really spoke to me. And so that's why I've tried to just choose things that I really was invested in.

Irish actress Caitriona Balfe arrives for the 92nd Oscars at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 9, 2020. (Photo by Robyn Beck / AFP) (Photo by ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images)

One of them that was so special to me was Belfast. It was the level of anger that I had when you weren't nominated for an Oscar for the film. And yet, the film received so much love, and obviously it did win the Oscar and it was so internationally recognized for how special it was. What was that experience like for you, looking at that and looking at your career as a whole? Outlander obviously was a massive, massive imprint, but I feel like Belfast is almost a peek into the future of the caliber of work that you're going to go on to do, I hope.

That was the most beautiful experience. Like, Kenneth [Branagh] is just the most—he's a genius and he is a legend and a titan of our industry, but he's also just the loveliest, most humble, just gorgeous human, and he was telling a very personal story and it was sandwiched between two lockdowns. So the world was crazy. This was pre-vaccination. So everybody was just slightly scared and we got to go to this little tiny place in Berkshire and play on the most beautiful story with Judi Dench, who is just the legend of all legends and Ciarán [Hinds] and Jamie [Dornan]and everybody else who's in [it]...Jude [Hill], and we just had the most amazing seven weeks in this heat wave of a summer. It really felt magical, and then you don't know what is going to happen. You don't know how anything's going to be received. And the way everyone was looking at it, Ken[neth Branagh] was like, it's just this little story. It's his passion project and we never knew what it would do. And then I had my son and literally four weeks after he was born, they were like, "Do you think you could go to Telluride?" And I was like, "no." And then at Telluride, it obviously got really well received. And then this machine starts rolling. Yeah. And I had this tiny little infant. And so the whole thing is just like a bonkers blur because you'd be at events...and then I'd be in these...fans and pumping and running to hotel rooms. But it was so fun because we had the best time, and I was with my friends and we got to go to L.A., and we got to the Oscars and it was just amazing. I'm so proud to have been a part of it, and I felt just so grateful and I'm so proud that Ken got his Oscar. It just was very, very special.

With the final season, there's gonna be a lot of—just like I'm doing now—looking back at your career and how this thing changed you and the films that you did and the projects that you did outside of it, what do you do next? How do you decide what to do next? That would be a lot of pressure for me.

No, I think, this last year has been—I took six months off after we wrapped. I wanted to spend time with my family. I wanted just enjoy my life a little bit and decompress because I think coming off the show, it was such an emotional season, just because every time you're like, "Ah, this is the last, we're doing the last season!" It's hard not to have that intense energy for a long time. So I needed to decompress. And then I've just been so fortunate that my reasons for choosing projects is still always the same. I wanna work on great material with good people, and it just has to speak to me. So I've done these lovely little bits in projects. Sometimes it's a very small role, sometimes it's a bigger role. That part doesn't bother me. I just wanna work with interesting artists and on great scripts. And I had the best year, and I think if I let my curiosity lead me then I can't really go wrong.

I spoke with Paul Giamatti yesterday, and I was talking to him about that, about the pursuit of the journeyman actor, how it doesn't matter the size of the role, if there's something great in that small role. Then you just have to do it.

Or the project, for me, so I got to be a small part of this incredible film that's gonna come out next year called Tenzing, and I'm probably in five or six scenes, but I got go to Nepal, work with incredible actors, this brilliant director, Jennifer Peedom, also on a project that is reframing the narrative, this historical narrative about Tenzing Norgay. And his achievements in Climbing Everest, because he was always just regarded as a footnote in Edmund Hillary's story. And all of a sudden, they're making this beautiful film that gives him the recognition that he deserves. And it's using all these amazing Nepali-Tibetan actors, and it's the most gorgeous project. Honestly, it was like a gift. I just was like, "Wow, I am so grateful," and I have such a small role but it was the most fun and that to me is like why I'm in this business. And then other stuff where it's like bigger roles but when you feel that excitement about something and it's like "Oh well, then I have to do it!"

Newsweek

Remember… as an actor doing one character, you become so micro-focused on that role and what that character's role and journey. But as a director, you get to be over everything. And you see the bigger picture. — Caitríona Balfe

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Photo: Jem Mitchell

Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan on the End of Outlander

Diana Gabaldon’s story was simple enough: English girl in the 1940s visits the Scottish Highlands and is transported to the 1700s. Boy in the 1700s dislocates his shoulder. Girl fixes boy’s shoulder. Boy and girl marry and plunge headlong into a torrid, 200-year romance.

From that 1991 novel, Outlander, eventually came a television adaptation, starring Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan as Claire and Jamie Fraser—and with it, a ferocious cult following that has measurably impacted Scottish tourism. Now, 35 years after Gabaldon’s first book was published and 13 years after filming began on the show, Starz is gearing up to air Outlander’s eighth and final season.

As for what fans can expect from the grand conclusion to Claire and Jamie Fraser’s epoch-spanning love story? In a way, not even Balfe and Heughan know for sure: They shot multiple endings and neither one has actually watched the finale. (The season premieres on March 6.)

Last month, after the actors reunited for their first photo shoot since wrapping over a year ago, they sat down with Vogue to discuss everything: their chemistry, their friendship, Balfe’s directorial debut in Season 8, Claire and Jamie’s first love scene—and the scene they wished they had an intimacy coordinator for. Read excerpts from that sprawling conversation below.

Photo: Jem Mitchell

Vogue: For almost 13 years, you two created one of television’s greatest love stories. What were your favorite parts of it, and why do you think it resonates so much?

Sam Heughan: I always loved the very Outlander scenes where Jamie and Claire kind of hash it out together. In the early years, they were quite emotional and passionate. They’d disagree but find a resolution. And then in later years, they become codependent and need each other.

Caitríona Balfe: Maybe not codependent…

Heughan: Jamie needs her. They work things through together, and I just love that.

Balfe: They also know when to give each other the time to get through whatever they need to, and allow each other the space to figure things out, while still being there for each other—which they didn’t do in the beginning.

Heughan: But now they know each other so well. It’s that beautiful thing.

Balfe: Obviously, there was so much passion and so much of that new love that people were so attracted to. It’s exciting when you see two people falling in love. That’s so inspiring. But maintaining that and also allowing something deeper to grow—we constantly fought for that, didn’t we?

Heughan: Absolutely. They know each other’s weaknesses, strengths, and share every side of themselves. Jamie shares his troubles and thoughts with Claire and she does the same, so they depend upon each other. They realize what they’ve got in each other.

Balfe: We always hear from fans, “Oh, we want more love scenes—we want the Jamie and Claire moments!” I think that sometimes people think it’s just the sex that they want, but we’ve always felt it’s the romance, moments of intimacy—and intimacy doesn’t always have to be physical. We fought to have those moments where it’s not just jumping into bed, because that passion can’t sustain. They would be absolutely —

Heughan: They’d burn out!

Did you ever say, “Hey, what’s the point of these love scenes?”

Caitríona and Heughan: All the time!

Heughan: We we had to question it to find out the motivation behind it. What does it say about the characters and their relationship? Otherwise, it’s gratuitous.

Balfe: Ron [Moore, who developed the show], in the beginning, his pitch to us about the sex scenes was, “We want to tell story through this.” The show went out and those scenes resonated so much with people. But we constantly wanted it to remain part of the storytelling. It has to tell us something about where they are emotionally. As Sam said, we were able to get there.

Heughan: There are moments in this final season where Jamie needs Claire physically, but he needs her because he needs solace and comforting. And they’re always physical, aren’t they? That’s kind of how they reconnect with each other, certainly in moments of stress or trauma. We always pushed for something deeper to show about their relationship.

You’ve shown how a couple can keep falling in love across different incarnations of their lives. What are your top three favorite moments for these two?

Heughan: One of the most celebrated, but most horrific, was the wedding, because we had to film it twice. You’re in that dress, which is stunning, but—

Balfe: It was like wearing Sam! That’s how heavy it was.

Photo: Neil Davidson

Photo: Ed Miller

Heughan: She wasn’t allowed to walk, sit down, or go to the bathroom, but yet there’s this magical moment and very beautiful wedding. For us, it didn’t feel as romantic as maybe the fans felt about it.

Balfe: That was really special.

Heughan: The other cast weren’t very helpful. They were supposed to be there to support us.

Balfe: A lot of taunting. They did their best to ruin every take by laughing. Heckling.

Heughan: The vows, especially. We first shot it in the church, then we did it in the studio with lots more candles.

Balfe: About 1,000 more candles. Oh! Then a sad moment, but also very beautiful, would be the dance back to the stones.

Photo: Steffan Hill

Heughan: That’s a big one. It was that place, Schiehallion. So pretty. The snow had fallen and we did this goodbye dance.

Balfe: It was so romantic. We need our third one.

Heughan: One that makes me laugh is crossing the threshold with his wife in America, and his wife starts to wear trousers! [Balfe laughs.] It’s for one episode and never again.

Balfe: That’s a random one to call out. Being washed up on the shore of America was good!

Heughan: It wasn’t really romantic. It was soggy, I had sand in my boots…

Photo: David Bloomer

What the fans love is very different than what you two have lived through. Let’s go through your roses and thorns for some of the show’s most iconic scenes. First up, the fight in “The Reckoning,” by the river.

Balfe: It was the audition scene.

Heughan: The audition was twice as long! Very physical.

Balfe: It was very physical.

Heughan: I pushed you over. I pushed you very hard. I think you fell on your ass.

Balfe: No, that was a different time. When you broke my coccyx.

Did he really break it?

Balfe: I don’t know! It was painful for a while. The river fight was actually one of those we rehearsed a few times, and then once you get into it, it had a lot of energy.

Heughan: Passion! They’re almost tearing bits out of each other. That line, “You’re tearing my guts out, Claire”—there’s always these fan lines that they’re waiting to see. I’d get quite nervous about it. Oh, God, I have to do that and get it right.

Balfe: Oh, that’s the same episode—the knife scene!

Rose and thorn for that scene?

Balfe: Lots of carpet burns.

Heughan: Big carpet burns for both of us.

Balfe: It was on a very threadbare carpet on a floor. That was very intense. It was pre-intimacy coordinators. It was definitely one where we could have used one.

“A. Malcolm,” where Claire returns to the past. She and Jamie see each other for the first time in 20 years.

Balfe: When you fell… so gracefully!

Heughan: Again, one of those Outlander moments where you go, “Diana, why? Just why?” I think he walks around with no trousers on for some reason. It was one of those moments that we both felt a little—

Balfe: There was a lot of pressure to get it right. It’s so beloved in the books. Everyone, not just us, felt the pressure.

Heughan: We also hadn’t really worked together for a while—

Balfe: For ages, for like half a season.

You also had one of the longest love scenes on television.

Balfe: It was upstairs in the brothel. We were in that room for a very long time.

Heughan: Very hot, and not a very nice brothel, as far as brothels go.

“First Wife,” with that fight scene.

Balfe: [To Heughan:] We go back to Lallybroch. I find out you’d married Laoghaire.

Heughan: Is this a different show?

Balfe: Season 3. We have that big fight in the bedroom, and Laura [Donnelly, who plays Jamie’s sister, Jenny] comes in and throws water on us, because we’ve been fighting like cats and dogs. In the fight, you push me. And literally, I rose up in the air and landed on the floor about five feet away, on my arse.

Heughan: Oh, that one. They’re passionate! I don’t think you ever injured me.

Balfe: No.

Heughan: Just internally, psychologically.

Photo: Jem Mitchell

Caitríona, you revealed for the first time in 2021 that you wanted to direct, but hadn’t gotten the chance. Five short years later, you’ve directed an episode in Season 8.

Balfe: [Laughs.] Five short years. I’m not nervous about it coming out, but maybe I should be! I was nervous prior to filming. I was especially nervous about working with… [She points at Heughan, who smiles.] My first day was that seven-page scene with you and Richard [Rankin].

Heughan: Cutting the wood. We laughed a lot. I remember trying to kick the tree down.

Balfe: Such a great day. Sam was like, “Screw this saw. I’m going to use my foot.” I was so grateful to have been given that opportunity and to work with all these guys in that way.

Heughan: She was amazing. Working with you, seeing you prepping and the things you were trying to deal with… I can’t wait for people to see it. They should have made that the first episode.

Balfe: Aw. I have to give Jan Matthys a lot of credit. He was an amazing mentor to me. And all of our crew and [heads of department] were all so supportive and helpful. What was really difficult was having to be in it, as well. I didn’t love that, because you’re splitting your attention—

You’re in almost every scene in that episode.

Balfe: Yeah, great episode they gave me! But the pitfalls of it are also the things that made it exciting. The panic decisions—that’s the buzz of it. That’s the part of it that surprised me the most, and that I enjoyed.

You also had to direct your own love scene.

Balfe: I was like, “And their clothes stay on.” [Both laugh.] I was fortunate, I had Barbara Stepansky, the writer and supervising producer of the episode, to talk about the scenes with and say, “Okay, what exactly do you want from the scene?” What’s the visual language that I want? I know what Sam and I bring to it. Then we worked with [intimacy coordinator] Vanessa Coffey, who has worked with us for the last couple of seasons. She brings so much to those scenes, helping us craft them. It’s collaborative. That’s the loveliest thing about it.

Photo: Jem Mitchell

You both have always said you have each other’s backs. Any examples of that? How do you balance each other on set? I feel you have different temperaments.

Balfe: [Laughs.] Yes, I pop off. Sam stays calm.

Heughan: It’s been complementary. I felt weirdly protective of you from episode one. Then seeing you flourish into being the strong Claire that you are… that’s always been part of Jamie, as well, to protect. I don’t know whether that was the character or me, but it works really well. I can also guide her in a direction to then have her energy… [He mimics something being shot off.]

Balfe: Sam likes to stir. If he wants something to happen or doesn’t like something, he’ll just whisper, “Oh, yeah, you should say something,” And then, because I’m an idiot…

Heughan: No, not at all. You’re a person of action. But, you know, this one’s trouble… always corpsing. We have a silly sense of humor, and sometimes that was my downfall. We’re very lucky.

Balfe: I think our friendship is probably one of the things I’m the proudest of from the whole show. [They hug.] It’s true. We’re both competitive people, but we’re not competitive with each other. And we’ve always made sure that we talk to each other.

Heughan: We were in the show for over a decade. Whether it was on set or off set, we both went through stuff in our personal lives. Caitríona would instantly know if there was something going on. In those moments, she was there for me and would protect me in some ways, way more than she needed to… like an older sister.

Balfe: Really? So cheeky. Only six months. One time I really took one for the team. You got a message that upset you on set, and I jumped up and yelled, “I have to go to the toilet!” Everyone was like, Does she have diarrhea? I let everyone think I had that for you.

Heughan: Did you? So nice!

Let’s talk about the future. You both have said, about an Outlander movie, “Never say, never.” Has one actually been discussed?

Heughan: No.

Balfe: Not with me, no.

Diana is working on finishing book 10. Would you two consider voicing the audiobook?

Balfe: It’s so iconic. Davina Porter, who did it before, was so synonymous with the series.

Heughan: Well, they’ve just done one. Kristen [Atherton, who played Jenny in Season 7] took over. But it would be nice to hear everyone’s voices and be back together again.

Balfe: Wouldn’t have to wear a corset. You could do all the acting in your pajamas.

Caitríona, how has Sam changed and grown as an actor over the years? Did you get to see his recent production of Macbeth?

Balfe: I did get to see him in Macbeth, and he was amazing.

Heughan: So nice you came.

Balfe: Of course I was going to come. Sam was way more experienced when we started. He’s always been able to combine this incredible strength and this beautiful sensitivity and strength. You’ve always been able to put the two together. I’ve watched Sam become this force of nature. Your philanthropy, My Peak Challenge, your businesses, and it’s just incredible. You’re very… [Both laugh.] I’m in awe.

Caitríona, you’ll be playing Mrs. Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility. When Sam learned about it last summer, he said, “She has to wear a corset again,” and he looked pretty happy about it.

Balfe: I did. I’m really excited to see it. It’s going to be really beautiful. Georgia Oakley is an incredible director and I think she sort of grounded it. It has a very different feel to previous iterations. It was just really fun. Sam and I have been doing a lot of heavy lifting on Outlander for years. It was nice to just pop in and hang out for a bit.

Heughan: I can’t wait to see it.

Sam, tell us about your new limited series with Anna Kendrick and J.K. Simmons.

Heughan: Macbeth was a lot of heavy lifting. I was pretty exhausted after that. I’m really excited about this one: It’s an action thriller with a lot of political intrigue. It’s going to be full-on and a busy one. I love the action stuff, so it’ll be good.

Caitríona, you once said you were nervous that this show was like lightning in a bottle, an experience that will never happen again. How does it make you feel that this love story is over… for now?

Balfe: It’s so weird because we had the first round of goodbyes, and now it feels like you have to scratch the wound again. It’s opening up again.

Heughan: What a journey it’s been. That moment where we’re with all the fans, in the auditorium, when they play that first ep, that’s going to be—

Balfe: That’s going to be amazing. It’s nice for us to be back together today. It’ll be so lovely to be with everybody at the premiere.

Heughan: It’s going to be chaos.

Imagine you’re on an airplane. One episode of Outlander keeps playing over and over, and it’s your worst nightmare. What episode is it?

Balfe: Other people watching? “The Wedding”! Of course.

And what’s an episode that you wouldn’t mind seeing on repeat?

Heughan: Oh! When Jamie sends Claire back.

Balfe: Yeah, that was a good one, because we had lots in that.

Heughan: It’s the beauty and the pain of saying goodbye, and everything that’s going to come after it.

For Sam Heughan: grooming, Charley McEwen. Styling, Grace Gilfeather.

For Caitríona Balfe: hair, Gareth Bromell; makeup, Silver Braham. Styling, Karla Welch.

Vogue

Remember… it’s so weird because we had the first round of goodbyes, and now it feels like you have to scratch the wound again. It’s opening up again. — Caitríona Balfe

[joannanora]

Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan on the End of ‘Outlander’

Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan on the End of ‘Outlander’

[brian-in-finance]

Matt Crockett, Getty

Helena Bonham Carter, Caitriona Balfe and Emma Laird Join Anthony Hopkins in Richard Eyre’s Daphne du Maurier-Inspired Romance ‘The Housekeeper’

“The Housekeeper,” the evocative romance that fictionalises the inspiration behind Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca” and was first announced by Variety in 2024, is gearing up to start production.

BAFTA winner and Oscar nominee Helena Bonham Carter (“The Crown,” “One Life”), BAFTA and Golden Globe nominee Caitríona Balfe (“Belfast,” “Ford v Ferrari”), and fast-rising star Emma Laird (“The Brutalist,” “28 Years Later”) have joined show alongside the already announced two-time Oscar winner Anthony Hopkin (“The Father,” “The Silence of the Lambs”). Previously attached stars Uma Thurman and Phoebe Dynevor are no longer appearing.

Directed by multi-award-winning filmmaker Sir Richard Eyre (“The Children Act,” “Notes on a Scandal,” “Iris”) and written by acclaimed bestselling author Dame Rose Tremain, “The Housekeeper” is based on her own short story and forthcoming novel scheduled to be published by Penguin Random House UK and Harper Collins US in the fall of 2026.

Set against the wild, brooding landscape of Cornwall, the story centers on Danni (Balfe), the housekeeper at Manderville Hall, a grand historic house owned by the wealthy and widowed Lord Grenville-Whithers (Hopkins). When the young writer Daphne du Maurier (Laird) arrives, Danni is drawn into a clandestine and intoxicating affair. For one, it is an all-consuming love; for the other, an awakening of long-suppressed desires. Their fragile secret threatens to unravel under the watchful gaze of Adelaide (Bonham Carter), Lord Grenville-Whithers’ calculating niece.

“Rose Tremain has written a brilliant screenplay which is dark and surprising and mysterious, and we look forward to making a film which lives up to its promise,” said Eyre.

Producers on the film are Julia Taylor-Stanley for Artemis Films, Kevin Loader for Embankment, and Herbert L. Kloiber for Night Train Media. Night Train Media has boarded the project as producer and principal financier. The Munich and London-based company will oversee global exploitation working with Embankment Films, who handle global sales. Additional finance was provided by Head Gear Films, M2 Mediapost, FireFrame Studios and Screen Cornwall. Executive producers are Phil Hunt and Compton Ross for Head Gear Films, and James Copp for Night Train Media.

“Assembling a cast of such calibre speaks to the power of Rose’s storytelling, and to Richard’s standing amongst the great British directors,” said Taylor-Stanley. “We are excited to be working with our talent on bringing this compelling story to the screen.”

Added Kloiber: “The Housekeeper promises audiences an intoxicating blend of passion, elegance, and emotional truth, brought to life through Rose Tremain’s exquisite writing and Richard Eyre’s masterful direction.”

Variety

Remember… set against the wild, brooding landscape of Cornwall, the story centers on Danni (Balfe), the housekeeper at Manderville Hall. — Variety

[theheughanobserver]

The Mommy Bubble

How a fan-blown ecosystem keeps him afloat, and quietly sinks him. Let’s name the thing everyone keeps dancing around.

The Mommies, the ultra-loyal, always-clapping, always-buying, always-defending contingent, aren’t just fans. They’re an ecosystem. A self-contained little weather system that follows him around and makes sure the forecast is always flattering.

And yes, in the short term, it works. They cushion. They spend. They cheer. They shield. But here’s the part people keep missing. A cushion is not a foundation.

A foundation is boring. It’s wide. It’s stable. It’s the unglamorous mass of long-term viewers who don’t scream, don’t fight, don’t worship, but who stay. The ones who might raise an eyebrow, offer critique, step back for a week, and come back if the vibe improves. That’s the base you build careers on.

The Mommies are not the base. They’re the balloon. And balloons don’t build. They float.

Why the bubble feels like success, when it’s actually just noise

Overfans are brilliant at one thing: keeping the machine running even when the machine is running badly. They don’t merely support. They manage perception. They do the PR labour in real time. They police comments, they massage the narrative, they perform loyalty as a public service.

If the public mood shifts, they don’t adapt. They don’t ask why. They don’t adjust the standard. They attack the standard. And that creates a very specific kind of comfort. The kind that teaches you you’re untouchable.

The trap: they remove the only feedback that matters

A healthy fandom has friction. Not toxicity. Friction. People who can say they love the work but hate the choice. People who can say this isn’t landing. People who can say you’re losing the room. That isn’t hate. That’s quality control.

The Mommy ecosystem can’t do quality control because it isn’t there to assess. It’s there to defend. So every correction gets slapped down. Every critical voice gets labelled a hater. Every nuanced conversation gets drowned in moral posturing. And the long-term fans with standards get shoved toward the exit. They call it protecting him.

It’s not protection. It’s quarantine.

What happens when you only listen to the bubble

This is where it becomes a career problem, not a fandom problem. Because the feedback loop changes.

He stops optimising for broad appeal, the kind that holds up over time, and starts optimising for the small, loud, paying surface. He learns that as long as he presses the right buttons, he wins. So he presses them.

He feeds the loudest supporters. He reposts the most obedient praise. He keeps the format that delivers applause with the least pushback. He avoids clarity, accountability, and anything that might puncture the fantasy.

And when people ask whether he sees what’s happening, I think he does. He’s just seeing the bubble, because the bubble is shouting. The foundation doesn’t shout. The foundation leaves.

How it ends, and it rarely ends with a scandal

This doesn’t end with one big cancellation moment. It ends with erosion. It looks like fewer invitations, fewer serious collaborations, less cultural relevance, less organic enthusiasm, and less goodwill.

Not because haters won. Because the wider audience simply stops caring. And the bubble can’t fix that, because a bubble can only amplify what’s inside it. It can’t rebuild what’s outside it.

The image that explains the whole thing

Picture it.

The Mommy ecosystem is a big shiny bubble floating above the ground. Reflective, noisy, convincing from the inside. Underneath it is the boring part, the foundation. The broad, stable crowd that doesn’t worship, but sustains.

Here’s the problem. The bubble doesn’t rest on the foundation. It hovers above it, and it pretends it doesn’t need it. So when the foundation starts crumbling quietly, politely, without drama, the bubble keeps floating for a while and everyone inside it thinks it’s fine.

Until the air runs out. Because eventually the bubble isn’t floating on talent or goodwill anymore. It’s floating on forced applause and loyalty as performance.

That isn’t lift. That’s hot air.

Why this is the most dangerous kind of support

Because it makes course correction almost impossible.

If he pivots, the bubble hates it. If he apologises, the bubble calls it weakness. If he sets boundaries, the bubble feels betrayed. If he tells the truth, the bubble loses the fantasy.

So he stays in the safest lane. Vague. Curated. Deniable. Managed. Shallow enough to keep the cheering consistent. And while he’s busy feeding the bubble, the foundation keeps slipping away. Not loudly. Decisively.

Cold conclusion

The Mommy ecosystem is a brilliant short-term strategy and a catastrophic long-term one. It keeps him afloat while quietly removing every mechanism that would keep him good, and every audience segment that would keep him relevant.

You can’t build a lasting career on a bubble. Not because bubbles are evil. Because bubbles are fragile. And careers don’t end when people get angry. They end when people get tired.

So yes, enjoy the float. Enjoy the noise. Enjoy the illusion of universal support. Just don’t act surprised when the foundation is gone and the bubble pops.

[bestjaydee]

Yes to everything in this piece. I would add one dangerous side effect of the bubble, the impact it has not only on regular fans, but on the decision makers of the industry, the entertainment journalists, the guilds and academies responsible for awards. Because mommies don't only attack other fans, they are vocal towards industry decision makers and influencers as well, for anything from not mentioning his name in an article, to not nominating him for an award, or not being chosen for a project. They will attack other actors that dare to have a project with any remote ressemblance to his. They'll even throw his co-stars under the bus. They do this because they think they're protecting him, but in reality they're making him look juvenile and shallow - and some of us know he doesn't need any help on that front - and someone to stay away from because of the toxicity and disrespect surrounding him. And Sam has not helped himself either by never calling out the crazies and by sometimes reposting their publications for good measure.

[thetruthwilloutsworld]

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We'll face the end together. Watch the official trailer for #Outlander's final season and join us for the epic conclusion starting March 6 only on STARZ. #OutlanderForever

29 January 2026