Starz Casts the Female Lead in ‘Outlander’

Caitriona Balfe stars in Outlander
Caitriona Balfe to star in 'Outlander' (Photo Courtesy of Starz)

Caitriona Balfe (Super 8, Escape Plan) has nabbed the lead female role in Starz’ new original series Outlander based on Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling novels. After a few months of issuing updates on the male members of the cast – and after a few online campaigns focusing on the character of ‘Claire’ – Starz and executive producer Ronald D Moore confirmed Balfe’s casting, and even author Gabaldon sounded off on the news.

Diana Gabaldon said, “Hard to believe lightning can strike twice, but it surely did. The moment Caitriona Balfe came on screen, I sat up straight and said, ‘There she is!’ She and Sam Heughan absolutely lit up the screen with fireworks.”

“The casting of Claire Randall was a long and difficult one because the role is so crucial to the success of our show. Outlander is told from Claire’s point of view and we experience the entire story through her eyes, so it was vital that we find exactly the right actor to play her,” said Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore. “Caitriona wasn’t on anyone’s radar, she wasn’t on any list, but when we saw her audition tape, we immediately knew she was someone special. Then, after we had her read with Sam, we knew we’d found our Claire. At its heart, Outlander is the story of two people — Claire and Jamie — their loves and losses, their adventures and tragedies, and now we finally have them both.”

In addition to Balfe and Heughan, the Outlander cast includes Tobias Menzies (Frank Randall/Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall), Graham McTavish (Dougal MacKenzie), Gary Lewis (Colum MacKenzie), Duncan Lacroix (Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser), Annette Badland (Mrs. Fitzgibbons), and Stephen Walters (Angus Mhor).

The Plot:

The Outlander series spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history, and adventure in one epic tale. It follows the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.