‘Outlander’ Producer Ron Moore Says Season 2 Will Have Two ‘Very Distinct Halves,’ Talks Premiere Date
Following a successful first season, Outlander is already getting ready for production of Season 2. The second season, which is an adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Dragonfly in Amber, will be set in France and will feature a much different storyline than Season 1.
“It’s a very different book, and so the pacing and the structure is very different,” Ron Moore explained to Zap2it. “The first half of the book is all in Paris and it’s very political and it’s a lot of conspiracies and maneuvering and gossips and double-dealing as they’re trying to stop Culloden and start to change history, and then the book shifts and they return to Scotland and then it’s a war story. It’s very two distinct halves.”
Along with the return of Caitriona Balfe as Claire and Sam Heughan as Jamie, the new season will feature a number of new characters. Access Hollywood announced that Stanley Weber will be playing a villainous member of the French court named Le Comte St. Germain in the new season.
Additionally, Robert Cavanagh will be appearing as Jamie’s cousin, Jared Fraser, in Season 2 of Outlander. Fraser is a wine dealer living in Paris and will play a large role in the Jacobite rebellion, which will be one of the main storylines this season.
In addition to the new characters, Lotte Verbeek will be reprising her role as Geillis Duncan, and Tobias Menzies will once again appear as Claire’s husband, Frank.
Aside from new characters, a lot of the second book takes place in Paris. But that does not mean that they are shooting in the City of Lights.
“We’re looking for street scenes; a place that looks like Paris in the 18th century. So we looked around and Prague was the closest we could do,” showrunner Ron Moore tells Zap2it. “We’re not shooting those scenes yet. We’ll shoot them all together, so all the Paris episodes, we’ll take out all the street scenes and save them, and then go to Prague once and shoot all those scenes. We’re also doing some shooting in the south of England at some other palaces, for interiors and exteriors that would feel sort of like Versailles and other locations in Paris.”
Moore did respond to some fan speculation that the second season premiere would coincide with the 270th Anniversary of the Battle of Culloden.
“I hadn’t even thought about,” he admits. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Starz is way ahead of me. It has intricate plans, but I haven’t thought about it at all.”
While a premiere date for Season 2 of Outlander hasn’t been announced, it is expected to premiere in 2016.
[Image Courtesy: Starz]
