The time-travel romantic historical drama Outlander returns for its eighth and final season on March 6th on STARZ.
Season Eight sees Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) return home to Fraser’s Ridge after years away where they must confront both outside intruders and family secrets.
I recently chatted with lead actress Caitríona Balfe about playing Claire Fraser for the last time and what she hopes the legacy of the series will be. (This interview has been edited for clarity.)
IGN: This show has been such a comforting thing for people for so long. And I think at a certain point you just take for granted, it’ll always be there. And for it to be ending, but for fans, it must be a little bit of stages of grief. I know there’s a prequel and everything, but it’s like it’s been around so long and it just always felt like it would be there.
Caitriona Balfe: We were young when we started it. It has been the most incredible journey and the most significant part of that journey has been the fandom because they have kept us on air and they have kept us employed and supported us and just been the greatest thing that we could have been a part of for over a decade.
And it does feel very strange to finish this. It was the longest job I’ve ever had. But look, I think more than 10 years playing the one character, and doing this one show, I think it was time for everybody. But hopefully what we have done is given them something to be proud of, and hopefully they’ll enjoy this last season, and then they’ll have these eight seasons to re-watch over and over if they ever need.
IGN: What do you want the lasting message or legacy of your Outlander series to be? What do you want people to take away from it in the end and how it’ll be remembered?
Caitriona Balfe: If there’s anything about Claire and Jamie, they led with love, but they were always seeking justice and fairness. And I think they were inclusive of people. I just think that they gave such a positive influence to the people around them. And I think in terms of the broader picture of their journey as immigrants to a country with a dream and an ideal about how to make that a better place is something that can resonate at this moment in our time, just maybe that there’s a resonance there.
IGN: I grew up in Boston steeped in colonial history, it’s everywhere. But I think people don’t realize just how violent the American Revolution was and how disruptive it was. It was a civil war, and so I appreciate that about Outlander is that they do show in the first episode, you’re not in the scene, but there are two loyalists that are strung up.
