Diana Gabaldon gave an interview to the The Herald on Caitriona Balfe’s Golden Globe nomination, the progress of shooting season three of Outlander, and the character of Mr. Willoughby (who has not been cast yet or at least not announced, but will be in season three). Diana is always good for some details on production and she does not disappoint in this one. Excerpts are below, but head over to the The Herald to read the entire article.
“It is fabulous that we are becoming very visible – the show and the actors have won any number of fan-based awards. I am thrilled it has become such a success.”
She said: “Usually they only get a break for Christmas and while previously this has been about six weeks this time it is only two weeks, as they are moving as quickly as they possibly can.
“There are 13 episodes in season three and they are right in the middle of the sixth episode. They filmed the eighth episode already – they were out of order as they needed to accommodate one of the actresses’ schedules. So they have about six-and-a-half episodes in the bag, which is just about where they should be.”
The production will move from its Scottish base in studios at Cumbernauld to South Africa later in the year, to film scenes which are set on a ship in the Caribbean. “They will be going to South Africa later in the spring, in May or thereabouts,” Gabaldon added
On Mr. Willoughby:
“No one knew how he got there – whether he had stowed away, been kidnapped or whatever,” she said. “He couldn’t speak English – and he never would speak English as he was so traumatised by being in the midst of these barbarian strangers. People felt sorry for him as he was at such odds and so isolated, and would give him food and places to sleep and clothes to try and help him. But he just could not make connections anywhere and he finally drank himself to death.
“It was a very tragic story but it made me think. That is where Mr Willoughby came from – he was a real person, so to speak, and it also caused me to think of cultural isolation and perceptions and so forth.”
“I understand not all Chinese people are short,” she went on, “but you cannot have a representative sample of all Chinese people in this book – he is one character and has to be one size or another. Given that both Jamie and Claire are abnormally tall for their time, they are almost bound to see them as short, and it is their viewpoint. So no cultural offence is intended.”
Source: The Herald
