The stars of Outlander open up about their final days on set, how they celebrated wrapping the series, and whether they’ll miss those period costumes ahead of the Season 7, Part 2 premiere.
While fans may have a ways to go until they bid adieu to Starz’s Outlander — with Season 7, Part 2 premiering this Friday, before the eighth and final season drops sometime next year — the show’s cast has already wrapped production on the series.
Yes, there’s still a season and a half to go for Jamie and Claire Fraser, as they continue to navigate the American Revolution on the beloved time-hopping, romantic drama. But, for actors Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe, John Bell, Richard Rankin, Sophie Skelton, Charles Vandervaart and the rest of the cast, it’s all but over.
TooFab caught up with the stars ahead of Season 7’s continuation, where they revealed what it was like for them as they wrapped on their final scenes for Season 8.
“End of an Era”
“There were tears flowing, honestly. It was very, very emotional,” Bell, who plays Young Ian, told TooFab. “I think it was actually seeing Caitriona kind of break down with me and I just let it out.”
“People that day were like, ‘Life goes on, everything will be okay,'” he recalled. “Yeah, I get that. Things of course move on, we still got a lot to talk about with Outlander, but this is that moment. I’m allowed to kind of mourn this and celebrate it. Just to kind of take a second, give myself a pat on the back.”
“Nine years on that show,” he continued. “So, imagine nine years worth of tears. It all came out with just a few minutes with my lovely big sis, Caitriona.”
Costar Vandervaart, who plays William Ransom, said he’s “still in denial” about the show being over.
“I’m in the denial stage of grief at the moment,” he told TooFab, adding, “It’s scary, it doesn’t feel quite over yet.”
For Skelton, who plays Jamie and Claire’s daughter Brianna, she said she “wasn’t expecting to feel as emotional as I felt on the last day of shooting.” She went on to explain that while she “felt I had made my peace with the fact we are coming to an end, knowing we had this press tour” ahead of her, she — getting vulnerable — told TooFab she ended up “crying into a bouquet of flowers.”
Like Sophie, the actor playing her onscreen husband Roger — Richard Rankin — said the emotions on his last day were “unexpected.”
“My last day ended up a little more emotional than I thought it may be. Or maybe not. I knew it was coming. All day felt very relaxed and normal, neutral. Until my last day, and then it started to get a sort of a sentimental,” he recalled. “I was there when Diarmaid wrapped, along with a couple others. It was quite sad to see the walls sort of coming down. This is the end, this is it.”
But, “if there was a contest on who got the most emotional this season,” show executive producer Maril Davis told Toofab, “I would win it hands down.”
“I sobbed. I was emotional first read-through, I did not stop. I cried every time we would wrap somebody out,” she shared. “Then the last day, I thought, so many things have happened over the twelve years. I’ve had kids, it’s been kind of a game changer, a life changer for many of us. We are a family. I know that term gets thrown a around quite a bit in this industry. But it’s really true on this show. It’s a literal end of an era. So, it was very emotional.”
Wrap Party Madness
While the waterworks were flowing on set, there was still some fun to be had at the Season 8 wrap party. And some of the cast clearly had even more fun than others.
“It got pretty wild,” confessed Bell. “My favorite memory of that wrap party was ending up in a club in Glasgow called La Cheetah, a tiny little box with house music. I think I had my shirt off next to Charles in the DJ booth going ‘Woooo!’ So, celebrations were made.”
“No way he’s talking about that!” exclaimed Vandervaart when TooFab told him Bell’s confession. “That’s hilarious.”
“I’m not much of a clubber and that was the first time. He’s been trying to convince me to go, and I’d be like, ‘No that’s not really my scene, that’s not my thing,'” the actor continued. “I go to bed at 9:00; I’ll hit the gym, have my protein shake, and go to bed. He finally got me out a week before I left, and I was in the club with him. It was great!”
He said the experience left him wondering why he didn’t do it sooner, “so we can have a couple more nights like that.” Vandervaart added, “No matter what you’re doing, it’s a great time when you’re with people that you really love, with people who are also fun and enjoying themselves. I think no matter where they took me, I would’ve had a good time.”
Skelton wasn’t quite as adventurous as the boys, telling TooFab she thinks she left the wrap party around 11.
“Oh my gosh, I was so lame!” she said of her night. “It’s been a very emotional year for me at work, personally. I was 21 when I joined this job and, for me, Scotland hasn’t been my home. And so, being away from home for 10 years really meant that these people are my family and it’s kind of been my life and I’ve sort of been an alien from my own life. It’s been quite a lot to process.”
“So, when we got to the wrap party, it had been quite a tough schedule. I think I was just exhausted. My hats off to those who could power through and party, but I’m not that cool anymore,” she quipped.
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“Goodbye to the Corset”
With the show behind them, so too are the series’ period-piece costumes. Corsets, kilts and redcoats are just some of the many looks the stars have had to wear throughout the show’s eight seasons, which has jumped in time from the 1940s, 50s and 60s back to the 1700s.
“I feel super fortunate on this show that I managed to, like you said, to do a little bit of every time zone,” said Skelton, whose character has been in both the past and more modern day eras of the show.
“I have managed to play such a wide range, age wise, of Brianna. With the flashbacks, I probably played about 16 to mid-thirties,” she added. “I’ve seen her become a mother and she’s been through so much. I feel very fortunate, I think, clothing wise because I managed to say goodbye to the corset, goodbye to the wooly jumpers or whatever, I don’t think I miss that material side of it so much.”
“I think I would miss being in Briana’s [metaphoric] shoes. But I feel like I’m super happy with the growth of her as a person and where we leave her, so, I feel like its easier to say goodbye to her than if she was in her teenage self while she has so many inner demons to deal with,” she continued. “I’ll say I miss being a redhead. The wig and midges [a type of fly in the Scottish Highlands] do not go good together. My head has been munched. So I’ll happy to say goodbye to the wig, [but] I’ll miss identifying with the redhead Bri.”
For Bell — whose character joins the Mohawk tribe and adopts their style of hair and dress — he said he does “have this new sense of freedom, which is quite crazy,” after the show has wrapped. He, however, focused more on the people he’ll miss going forward.
“I think I’m going to miss the amazing crew and my fellow cast mates the most. Getting to see people everyday has been a privilege. To see people join the show as trainees leave as HOD [head of department] or advance their careers throughout the show,” he continued. “Developing alongside us as young adults is the Scottish industry itself. Scotland’s industry is unrecognizable and that’s all because of the impact. At least a big part of it.”
“So, a great sense of pride. I’m going to miss the crew and I’m going to miss the cast a lot.”
Outlander returns for Part 2 of Season 7 on Friday, November 22.
