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‘Outlander’ Actress Caitriona Balfe Comments On Emotional Journey

By Nick Younker
Published on: 10:16 PST, Jun 25, 2016

Outlander Season 2 has taken shape and the world of actress Caitriona Balfe has changed dramatically since she first signed onto the role in the hit Starz series. So much so that it has taken emotional toll on the young actress, who details her life before and after the series.

Even though Outlander was poised to be a huge success right for the onset of the Starz series, no one could have predicted just how big the show would get. Not even Caitriona Balfe herself expected the intense degree of success she and the show would receive.

When Caitriona Balfe sat down to speak with The Hollywood Reporter, she gave fans a rare glimpse into who she was, as opposed to who she is now.

“Sam [Heughan] and I, we didn’t notice really anything for a while because we were in Scotland working (on Season 1 of Outlander) and pretty much sequestered away in our own little bubble for the better part of a year,” Caitriona Balfe told The Hollywood Reporter. “The first time we did a fan event, we had only filmed perhaps four episodes at that point but nobody had seen anything. 2,000 people showed up. Sam and I were looking at each other then like, ‘Whoa, this (Outlander) is really big.’ We just had no idea.”

Of course, that is where Caitriona Balfe was talking about who she was before the hit Starz series Outlander premiered on the premium cable network. But now, nearly three years later, she has had to adapt to a whole new life on and off of the set.

“It’s great, work-wise. Outlander has opened so many doors for me and that has been incredible. You have meetings with people that you would never have had meetings with before,” Balfe told THR about working on Outlander. “Suddenly, you’re on a list with people I’ve been admiring for years. In some ways, you move from one ladder to the next ladder but you see that you’re back at the bottom of that new ladder. But I’m so happy I have this TV show that has connected with so many people and it’s elevated my status as an actor.”

Caitriona Balfe also cited a counter-resemblance between herself and her Outlander character, Claire Fraser. She spoke about how both her and Claire had a life that they were happy with and they seemed to be carefree. But then, in the wisp of a moment, their lives changed so dramatically that they found themselves having to familiarize with a whole new world, one that was quite different than the world they were used to, as an Outlander.

That also makes perfect sense, given that Caitriona Balfe has taken the lead in Outlander, a series that has soared above all others’ expectations and been met with such critical and highly rated success. Balfe’s life could indeed be paralleled to that of Claire, and the two would have much more in common than they could initially know.

“Our show is very all-consuming. You’re not exactly doing something else after work, so Monday through Friday you’re just living in it,” Caitriona Balfe told THR about filming Outlander. “By the time you get home, you’re learning your lines for the next day and going to bed. And if you’ve been crying all day for work, you’re not going to be bouncing out of the studio at the end of the day, cracking jokes.”

Caitriona Balfe also said that there is so much to learn from Outlander that it makes the job just a little more challenging than most actors might presume. Being historically accurate is of course one of Outlander‘s biggest challenges.

[Image via Starz]

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