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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
Heughan: Just internally, psychologically.
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.
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?
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.
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
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