Bill Paterson has now been officially named as a cast member in Outlander since an article was posted in The Scotsman on June 10th. He will play Ned Gowan, the “lawyer” of the MacKenzies’ and is along on the “road trip” with Dougal, Jamie, and Claire as they go about collecting taxes and rents from those on MacKenzie lands. He was already unofficially announced at the time that Diana Gabaldon visited the Outlander set in February, but Starz did not release any sort of casting news, so we waited.
Bill Paterson is a screen (both large and small) veteran whose credits go back to the 1970s. His most recognizable credits are The Killing Fields, Richard III, Law and Order: UK, Doctor Who, and Little Dorrit. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland in 1945.
Here are some quotes from Bill Paterson in The Scotsman article:
“Paterson told The Scotsman: “I play Ned Gowan, an Edinburgh lawyer, who is a bit of an adventurer. He gives up the brass plates on his door and sets off to the Highlands for a bit of late adventure in life. He helps the clan chief to collect rent, but has got a double-dealing thing going on.
“He’s an interesting wee figure. He is described as a delightfully elderly little man. I don’t know why they cast me! It’s a lovely wee part. I thought it was just going to be a cameo, but I’ve been on the show since February and have got another ten days or so to go on it.
“It’s been much more demanding than I thought it would be. I’ve had 60 long, long days or so on it and there has been a lot of travel. I’ve been in the studio and out on all kinds of locations. We’ve been up in Doune Castle, in quarries near Bathgate, in mills in East Linton, in East Lothian, up in Newtonmore and Rothiemurchus Forest in Aviemore and Aberfoyle in Perthshire.
“It’s a huge show, but I don’t know whether they’ll get around to making any more of them. It will all depend on how this series goes.”
Source: IMDB, The Scotsman
