Outlander cast and creators descended on the Paley Center earlier this week to give eager fans a first look at the upcoming midseason premiere. Below is a collection of interviews from the event with stars Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, and Tobias Menzies, executive producer Ronald D. Moore, and author Diana Gabaldon. Most of the interviews focus on what is still to come in season one and where the story is heading in season two, so beware of spoilers and read/watch with caution.
Collider– Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, Ronald D. Moore, and Diana Gabaldon
Read the entire interview here.
Collider: What can you say about what fans can expect from the second half of the season, with both the romance and with how much darker things will get?
CAITRIONA BALFE: It really does get a lot darker, this season. It gets more intense. The action really ramps up. And we see Claire and Jamie’s relationship really getting tested, not only by outside forces, but internally. They really have to deal with this friction that’s caused by being two people from different times. Even though they may not be able to accept each other’s actions, it’s about them learning to be able to understand where they’re coming from. It’s all really exciting, as well.
Ron, you still have the second half of the season to air, but you’re also knee-deep in the development of Season 2. How are you feeling about where things are headed, beyond the second half of Season 1?
MOORE: I feel good. The second book is very different from the first book. It’s structurally more complex. The storyline is more complex. It’s taking more work to figure out how we adapt it in the writers room, but I feel good about where we are. We’ve made a lot of progress. We’re getting scripts in. I’m starting to see it and say, “Okay, yeah, this is all going to work.” We still want to maintain as close to the book as we can. We want to keep that story alive. It’s just a bigger challenge with the second book than it was with the first book, just by the nature of what it is.
Rotten Tomatoes– 10 Things We Learned About Outlander this week (Highlights from the Paley Center panel).
Check out the entire list here.
1. The second half of the season is going to be a lot darker- Book readers know that there are some seriously dark and difficult scenes ahead. Without giving spoilers, Moore told us how he approaches things like this. He said “I approach them in the same way I approach the sex scenes. Why are we showing you this? What is the purpose of it? To find the truth within that scene, I’m going to take you on this harrowing journey and show you this dark thing and it’s going to be horrifying. At what point is what I am showing you going to distract you from the story? Once you’re distracted emotionally from the character’s story. The point where I check out is the point where I stop.”
VH1– VH1 asks the cast of Outlander (Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, and Tobias Menzies) which historical figure they would hook-up with.
Read all their responses here.
As for Balfe, she set her sights on a classic, rugged American actor. “Paul Newman because he’s Paul Newman,” said Balfe. “Cool Hand Luke? Come on.”
Access Hollywood– Interviews with Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, Ronald D. Moore
HitFix– Interviews with Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, Ronald D. Moore, and Diana Gabaldon
Seat42F– Interviews with Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Tobias Menzies, Ronald D. Moore, and Diana Gabaldon
That’s Normal– Interviews with Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, and Tobias Menzies
Zap2It– Interviews with Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan, Ronald D. Moore, and Diana Gabaldon
