Starz hosted the “Sunday Morning Tea with Two Highlanders & A Lord” Outlander panel on October 9, 2022, the final day of the New York Comic Con. Sam Heughan (“Jamie Fraser”) and Duncan Lacroix (“Murtagh Fraser”) were the two Highlanders while David Berry (“Lord John Grey”), of course, was the “Lord” in the panel’s title. Author Diana Gabaldon didn’t make it into the panel’s title but was also on stage to answer Outlander fans’ questions.
(If you came for season seven news, you’ll be disappointed. The panel focused on previous seasons.)
Sam Heughan admitted they were all slightly naïve at the beginning of the series and didn’t realize the vast scope and investment of Outlander fans. Hopping onto social media was a wake-up call back then. Plus, a very small event while they were shooting season one episode four drew thousands of people – something neither Heughan nor Caitriona Balfe anticipated.
“To see all the fans there, to see all the excitement about the show coming out, it certainly gave us a thrill but also we did start to ask ourselves, ‘Can we do this?’ But Diana’s been so supportive along the way – she’s been brilliant. You guys (meaning the fans) have been great support as well so thank you.”
Heughan added: “And we have new cast now. We’ve got Charles…we’ve got all these new people coming in. It must be hard for them to just come in and then establish themselves. They’re all doing an incredible job.”
Diana Gabaldon described writing episodes as “dead easy” compared to writing a book and it’s the actors who do all the heavy lifting. “Really, all I have to do is provide dialogue and little, short bridges and you take it from there. And even then, you mess with the dialogue…but that’s good.”
Season six was one of the hardest seasons to shoot, according to Heughan. “And it was also a small season. But I think it was the sort of cumulative effect of obviously shooting through winter in Scotland, which we always talk about the weather…whatever…but it was really tough. But then I think also the subject material – I mean, the Christies. I mean, my god, that family. Boy, they’re hard work, right? […] They’re fantastic as a family but geez I wouldn’t invite them around for dinner.
But then also the Covid protocols. It just made everything slower and more difficult. But also, despite being a smaller season, I think it’s one of the more interesting one. It’s compact; it’s intense. So, I actually really enjoyed it but it was very, very difficult. I can’t think of a funny thing that happened because not many laughs come when you’re working with the Christies.”
David Berry recalled that the first time he’d seen more than two people after quarantining was on an Outlander set. “I flew from Australia to the UK, and that was crazy actually. But one of the first days was the day that we had the big crowd scene. Lord John Grey meets Claire and Jamie, and there were so many people in that one room – all those extras. I think it was a huge extras day with Flora MacDonald. (Talking to Sam) We went a bit crazy, a bit loopy that day, didn’t we? As you do on big crowd days, but that was the most people I’d seen so I was going extra loopy since I hadn’t seen so many people in so long.”
Diana Gabaldon receives all the dailies and gets to see all the dozens of takes of the same scene. “I kind of judge how things are going by the number of times either Sam or Caitriona says f*ck,” said Gabaldon. “And there have been a few hard days lately.”
Heughan asked who says it more and Gabaldon quickly responded Caitriona. Heughan agreed.
Through Outlander, Sam Heughan learned history’s less black and white than written history books. “Even going back to Culloden, I think in the UK we thought it was the British versus the Scots. And then when you actually look at it and find out more, you realize there were Scots on both sides. And I think the same goes for the American Revolution. Families were torn apart. I mean, you can see Jamie Fraser – he obviously has prior knowledge but he’s literally jumping from side to side. He knows who’s going to win but I guess at the time it really tore the country apart but also created this America that we live in now.”
Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books cover a wide range of genres and mix humor, action, romance, and family issues. David Berry, who views Lord John as a very comedic character, spoke to that, saying, “There’s a unity in the tonality of the show. It has this heart to it with all these big dramatic things going on, like with the comedy, the romance, the battles – there is this really strong core. I don’t know what it is and that’s why I can’t really answer it. But that’s what’s tantalizing to play. You’re playing something human, and I think that’s what she’s created. You can’t put your finger on it but I think it’s very human.”
Duncan Lacroix’s natural tendency is toward comedy, and he really liked the relationship between Murtagh and young Fergus in season two. “It was a lovely little comedy duo that we had going on.”
The panel was hard-pressed to come up with any behind-the-scenes antics they could share. “But I would say that when we all get together, it is trouble. Especially Lauren (Lyle), Cesar (Domboy), Sophie (Skeleton), and Richard (Rankin). When we’re all in a scene together, when the family’s all together it is chaos. There’s like 20 conversations going on. The poor crew are trying to like, ‘Next, we’ll do the scene…’ It’s madness. I think those are the most wild times we have.”
Outlander Q&A Panel Takeaways:
- Neither Sam Heughan nor Diana Gabaldon would confirm whether Fergus or Marsali will return in season seven.
- Jamie’s relationship of unrequited love with Willie is one of the most interesting things for Sam Heughan to play.
- Diana Gabaldon has not changed the ultimate outcome of the series.
- Sam Heughan’s favorite filming location is where the Standing Stones are filmed. He believes it’s a magical area.
- David Berry’s first castle was Craigmillar where the Ardsmuir Prison scenes were filmed. He’s positive it’s haunted.
- At the moment, there doesn’t seem to be any interest from the studio in a Lord John Grey spinoff.
- Duncan Lacroix thinks the lasting appeal of Outlander is that it’s all about family.
- Diana Gabaldon joked that if they get a season eight, she’ll see what they can do about bringing Duncan Lacroix back as Murtagh’s ghost. He hopes we’ll see Murtagh in the future on a motorcycle with a Sons of Anarchy vibe.
- Sam Heughan is obsessed with the Yellowstone prequel, 1883.
- Duncan Lacroix really loves The Boys and if he could play any other character, he’d love to play The Butcher – Karl Urban’s character.
- David Berry is a huge Rick & Morty fan.
- Diana Gabaldon’s favorite scenes to write are the conversations between Jamie and Claire.
- Sam Heughan doesn’t think Jamie Fraser would like him. He’d say, “Stupid actor.”
- Duncan Lacroix only had one scene with Tobias Menzies and wishes he could have had more acting time with him.
- Duncan Lacroix put his trousers on backward and his Calvin Klein underwear was exposed during one action scene.
- Playing Lord John Grey has helped David Berry understand love in its various iterations.
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