Outlander stars Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe joined fans for the long-awaited UK premier of the hit TV adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s books.
Outlander has finally given UK fans the premier they’ve be waiting for with a glitzy themed screening in London and Glasgow simultaneously.
The interior of a Shoreditch warehouse was converted into an 18th century castle, complete with stags heads, for the special screening of the hit US series, which is filmed in Scotland.
Months after the first half of season one aired in the US and across other nations, it will be broadcast in the UK on Amazon Prime on 26 March.
Speaking to Scotland Now before the event, Caitriona has this to say;
“It felt very strange for Outlander not to have a home in the UK and now that it does it’s really exciting,”
“Fans have been waiting for so long to have an adaptation in a visual form that they could watch. People have got behind it in the US and hopefully they will here too. We have such a built-in fan base because of Diana’s books and she has obviously captured the imagination of so many people since the first book came out over 20 years ago.
“There is always some apprehension because you really hope you’ve done justice to their favourite characters and the book but I feel we worked really hard on this and I feel really proud of it.”
The sex scenes are never easy but you have to have to look at it within the context of 1743, she explains.
“You don’t start out excited about taking your clothes off in a room full of people for millions of people to watch. I felt it would be handled with taste and care by Ron Moore and we really insisted that when there were sex scenes they would be integral to the story line.”
But it’s fair to say that her co-star Sam attracts most attention from devotees of the eight-book epic series.
“I don’t get quite the giddy response that Sam Heughan seems to inspire,” she laughed. “So many of the fans want to be Claire so they can have Jamie.”
For 34-year-old actor Sam Heughan, whose hobby during filming breaks is to climb Scottish Munros, the show has turned him into a sex symbol on our side of the pond.
“It’s so strange that it has done so well in America and over here people haven’t heard if it,” he says. “We work in a little bubble in Scotland then it’s odd when you then go to America and see yourself on a billboard. But hopefully people here will enjoy it as much as the rest of the world.”
While his character Jamie Fraser rediscovers his past the science-fiction, time-travel romance, Sam says filming in Scotland has given him the opportunity to rediscover his own nation.
“Scotland is such a huge part of the show,” he adds. “We wanted to be as authentic as possible and bring as much Scottish culture to the show as we could and we’ve done that and so many of the locations are just terrific.”
After a break in filming of several months the cast and crew are now ready to begin shooting again for season two later this month.
The actors have signed a seven year contract so it appears the Outlander phenomenon could be around for some time.
Caitriona added:
“That’s standard in the US when you sign but we should be so lucky if it continues to go that long. We’re really excited about season two and if that goes well there will hopefully be a season three.
“In this business you can never count on things so we’ll take it one year at a time.”
With the following that this show has and it’s true to the books nature, I cannot even imagine not seeing this for seven years.
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