Interview with Caitriona Balfe for Outlander

Can you talk about Claire – her background, her personality, what makes her the way she is, and the fact that she is a strong female lead?
Well, Claire, what I loved about her, is that she is never a victim.  She's very intelligent.  She just seizes every opportunity to live in whatever circumstances that she finds herself in to the fullest. And I think that, doing research on her, and kind of filling her back story in, you have this sort of tragic event that happened to her when she was seven years old.  But what I loved about it was this wasn't something that brought her life down. She went and lived with her uncle, and traveled the world, and she misses her parents, and that's a part of her life that she missed out on, but it wasn't a loss, in the sense of her life ended at that point.

As a modern woman going back to a time where women were very different than where she came from, how does she try to fit into that?  
Well, I think that that's part of the great friction of the story as a modern woman going back to this very archaic time, and women were definitely second class citizens then. It’s great tension because she doesn't sit back and go, "Okay, this is my role now."  No, she fights it tooth and nail, and sometimes that has disastrous consequences. But, I think that she uses her intelligence to know how to weave her way through situations.  But at the same time, she doesn't let people get away with putting her down or underestimating her. She constantly fights for her corner.

How does Claire relate to the women of 1743, and specifically to Geillis?
Geillis is a really interesting and great character. Claire and Geillis' relationship is great because they know that there is something about each of them.  They recognize something about each other, and it's a real push and pull of, "Can I trust her?  She's the only person who kind of gets me, but yet there is something about her."
They bond over their love of herbology and botany, and the healing, and all of that. That's a safe ground for them to meet on. That’s kind of where their friendship lies, because any time Geillis tries to dig a little deeper, or Claire tries to sort things out, they both sort of pull away a little, because obviously, there's too many secrets behind. It's the only girlfriend Claire has in this time and it's very hard for her to keep that line of friendship, but keep her guard up. But she's one of the few havens of civility in that time when she first lands there.

So you felt this chemistry between you and Sam [Heughan] pretty much right away?  
Yeah, well, I was running a little late, which is not the ideal thing to do when you're going for a test. So I do remember going into the room, I mean, I was 10 minutes late. But I was very sweaty, and slightly stressed out, and he, as you know, Sam's just this really, solid, gentle person, and we immediately just starting chatting.  And he was very calming, and me being Irish, I have friends in Scotland so we started talking about that, and it was just very easy from the beginning.

What kind of preparations did you do once you had the role, in terms of Boot Camp, and learning to ride, and, learning medical jargon?
I didn't have a lot of time.  We started shooting about three weeks after I landed here.  There was emergency horse riding lessons that happened, emergency perming - the hair got permed.
A little bit of dialect, because obviously I sort of speak in a British accent for the show.  And I got to meet with an herbalist a couple of times, which was really interesting.

What do you think Ron Moore brings to the story?
Well, he brings a lot of experience and a lot of intelligence.  Ron [Moore]'s great, I feel blessed every day to be able to work with him.  I think he's someone who's so sweet, and approachable, and just such a rock.

Did you have more fun in the 40s outfits or the1700s?
The 1940s stuff is just a lot easier to wear. It’s definitely more actress-friendly, and it's also something that our eye and our bodies are just more accustomed to. It's easier to use a lavatory because when you've got bum rolls and like, four skits and corsets and stuff, it’s hard. But, this [1700s] is fun, the corsets, and everything. But after a 16-hour day, I will take 1940s clothes over this any day.