In Starz's 鈥淥utlander,鈥 Caitriona Balfe's Claire Fraser is bold and brave. She can also think on her feet in high-pressure moments. Her husband Jamie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan, is protective and empathetic. In a new prequel series out Friday, called 鈥淥utlander: Blood of My Blood,鈥 we see how they each got that way.
鈥淏lood of My Blood鈥 tells the love story of Jamie's parents, Ellen and Brian, and Claire's parents, Julia and Henry. The characters are inspired by the stories of but there are no novels for showrunner Matthew B. Roberts to follow. He also is the showrunner of the original series, which debuts
With no source material 鈥渢here乌鸦传媒 a lot more room to play in," explained Roberts. In 鈥淥utlander,鈥 "there are all these tentpole moments that we have to write to because that乌鸦传媒 what our audience wants from the books.鈥
The Frasers
In the books, Gabaldon mentions Jamie's parents in 鈥渂readcrumbs鈥 said Roberts. 鈥淲e stick to those, but the freedom is what can we do after that to get to essentially where 'Outlander' begins.鈥
The big obstacle facing Jamie乌鸦传媒 parents, Ellen and Brian, who meet in 18th century Scotland 鈥 is that they come from families that 鈥渄on鈥檛 get on,鈥 said Harriet Slater, who plays Ellen. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 mix. It乌鸦传媒 completely forbidden. My father乌鸦传媒 worst enemy was Brian乌鸦传媒 father so I鈥檓 sure he鈥檇 have had some strong words to say about the whole thing.鈥
Jamie Roy, who plays Brian, enjoys the duality of his character. There's the 鈥渢ough, stoic, Highland warrior鈥 who he says 鈥渞ides around on horses and swings swords and stuff.鈥 Then there's this 鈥渓ovely, gentle, poetic, romantic guy who wants nothing more than to take care of other people.鈥
A few months ago Roy went back and rewatched episodes from season one of 鈥淥utlander,鈥 because he wanted to watch Heughan as his TV son.
鈥淭here乌鸦传媒 so many people who had said there was resemblances about our performances and such. I was like, 鈥橶ell, let me see what Sam乌鸦传媒 journey was like right at the start. And I kind of see what they mean.鈥
The Beauchamps
Claire's parents Julia and Henry are mentioned even less in the books. They died in a car accident when Claire was young. We see them meet in 鈥淏lood of My Blood鈥 during World War I. Henry was a soldier and Julia worked in postal censorship.
鈥淲hen we meet him, he乌鸦传媒 pretty much given up," said Jeremy Irvine, who plays Henry. 鈥淚 think he乌鸦传媒 accepted death really and doesn鈥檛 have anything to live for and sends this one last lifeline out in the form of an open letter back to England.鈥 Julia finds his letter at work and feels compelled to respond. The two end up falling in love while writing back-and-forth.
A series of events send Julia and Henry, like their daughter, back in time. They end up in the 1700s where Irvine explains they are 鈥渢rying to live second by second.鈥
"The time they鈥檝e gone back to is not a friendly time to be an outsider at all. Being an outsider would likely mean death. Henry and Julia, as is Claire, are very quick-witted, fast-thinking, intelligent people. They survive by the skin of their teeth.鈥
Season 2 of 鈥淏lood of My Blood鈥 is coming too
The cast is already in production on season two of 鈥淏lood of My Blood.鈥 Hermione Corfield, who plays Julia, says it's been nice filming 鈥渋n our own little secret bubble.鈥
Promoting the series has been tricky because they have to remember what happened in season one versus season two.
鈥淵ou almost forget what you did in season one because you鈥檙e already onto that next journey and storyline,鈥 said Corfield.
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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Hermione Corfield乌鸦传媒 first name.