After all, with nine of author and Outlander creator Diana Gabaldon’s novels to consume (and a tenth book on the way), plus the first five seasons of the Outlander series having aired long ago (almost two years, but who’s counting?), there’s a lot to remember. So sharpen up your Sassenach knowledge with our collection of info on all things Outlander below!
Outlander trivia and facts
Did Outlander increase tourism in Scotland?
Yep! Tourism in Scotland went up 67 percent thanks to the Outlander books and shows. To show its appreciation, VisitScotland gave Gabaldon an award for International Contribution to Scottish Tourism at its 2019 Thistle Awards.
What does Diana Gabaldon call unplanned characters in Outlander?
“Mushroom” is Gabaldon’s word for characters she doesn’t plan. “I have no idea where they come from; they just pop up out of nowhere, and they walk off with any scene that they’re in,” she says. “Lord John [the English soldier] just popped up out of nowhere to try to cut Jamie’s throat. I was thinking, Who are you?!" Other mushrooms include Geillis Duncan, Master Raymond and Fergus.
How did they make those stone walls on Outlander?
Outlander sets looks so authentic because the behind-the-scenes teams work hard to simulate real 18th-century Scotland. Production designer Jon Gary Steele visited old castles and took impressions of the stone walls, which he then replicated.
How long did it take to find an actor to play Jamie on Outlander?
Four days! That’s how long it took to find the perfect actor to play Jamie, the dashing Scottish warrior. Enter Sam Heughan. Gabaldon wasn’t initially sure he was “the one” because some of his photos were “quite frankly, odd looking,” she recalls. But within five seconds of seeing his audition tape, she knew, “It was just Jamie Fraser right there.”
How long did it take to find an actress to play Claire on Outlander?
Four months! That’s how long it took to find the perfect Claire. And how did Caitriona Balfe win the part? She sent a selfie audition on her phone, which got looked at in the last round of casting. “They were taken by the one line, where she says, ‘Help! Help! He’s going over!’” Gabaldon recalls. Three days later, Balfe was in Glasgow.
What was the hardest skill for Sam Heughan to learn to play Jamie on Outlander?
Learning horseback riding, sword fighting, the Highland fling and how to run a printing press were challenging for Sam Heughan, but learning Gaelic was toughest of them all. “In Season 1, we had a lot of scenes in Gaelic, and I really enjoyed it,” Heughan says. “It’s a really strong part of who Jamie is, and it’s his first language.”
Who are the best bad guys on Outlander?
Stephen Bonnet, the smuggler played by Ed Speleers, is an all-round disreputable character. “He loves to see people suffering,” says Balfe. The dangerous Black Jack Randall was a sadistic redcoat played by Tobias Menzies (who also played Claire’s first husband, Frank). Black Jack may have been a distant relative to Frank. “For Black Jack, it’s more of a psychological investigation about people’s pain and people’s depths,” Balfe says.
Is Sam Heughan’s whisky good?
It is! Playing a bootlegger and a moonshiner, is it any surprise that Heughan was passionate about the opportunity to create his own brand of whisky, the Sassenach? The first batch sold out and won a Double Gold award at the 2020 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. “I really wanted to be involved in the whole process, from designing the label to the bottle to the tasting and getting the right blend. It’s been really rewarding,” Heughan says.
What are Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan’s favorite scenes on Outlander?
Balfe thinks the most intimate moments are the fight scenes. “The fight down by the river in Season 1 is it for me," she’s said. Meanwhile, Heughan says it’s in Season 1 where we first see Jamie and Claire by the fire at Castle Leoch, and she’s tending to his wounds. “I remember Jamie is tending to her too. He can see she’s scared, lost, almost like an animal lashing out at anything that could be dangerous. He’s really trying to comfort her and let her know that it’s all going to be safe.”
What does Dragonfly in Amber mean?
It symbolizes Jamie and Claire’s marriage, says Gabaldon: “It is a metaphor for something of great beauty that is preserved and exists out of its proper time.”
Why did Claire and Jamie marry twice on Outlander?
In order to keep Claire safe and out of British hands in Season 1, she had to wed Jamie, making her Scottish by marriage. “Oddly enough, it’s something that we filmed twice,” says showrunner Matthew B. Roberts. “We did it once and we realized we needed a bigger, more romantic wedding, so we filmed it again.”
What is Outlander’s connection to the Starz series Black Sails?
In Season 3, the ships used when Claire and Jamie set sail were “borrowed” from the Starz series Black Sails. “Actually, those ships are on dry land,” Heughan reveals. “They’ve got wheels and they drive around. So, we’re in the middle of a desert outside Cape Town and it’s very hot, and we’re dressed in these thick clothes. We all struggled with the heat, being from Scotland.”
Does Outlander use real Gaelic?
How do you say “you betcha they do!” in Gaelic? Because you betcha, they do use real Gaelic on Outlander! A “Sassenach” means a “foreigner” (or an “outlander”), while Leannan means “sweetheart,” “Mo charaid” is “my friend” and “Mo nighean donn” is similarly “my brown-haired lass.” Just don’t get called a “clot-heid” or a “gomeral;” they mean “imbecile, fool or idiot.”
Did Diana Gabaldon appear in Outlander?
Yep! Gabaldon cameoed in the Season 1 episode “The Gathering" as Iona MacTavish, who speaks to Mrs. Fitzgibbons (Annette Badland) as she escorts Claire to watch the oath-taking ceremony.
What is the Outlander theme song?
Outlander’s haunting theme song was arranged by composer Bear McCreary, who has written theme songs for The Walking Dead, Da Vinci’s Demons, Black Sails and Battlestar Galactica. He was inspired by a traditional Scottish folk tune, “The Skye Boat Song.” The lyrics, which are spookily relevant to Claire’s story, are thanks to 19th-century Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson.
Do the stars of Outlander like working with animals?
“I love working with the animals,” Heughan says. “We’re very lucky because no other show really has that quality of disruption, energy and fun. We’ve all got our own favorites and they’ve all got their own personalities,” he says. “I never get to touch the cat because Caitriona’s all over it. And Rollo has a mind of his own and just does what he wants.”
Which characters in Outlander are real?
Much of Outlander is fiction, but that doesn’t mean some actual famous faces from history don’t pop by, such as Bonnie Prince Charlie (Andrew Gower), King Louis XV (Lionel Lingelser), Governor Tryon (Tim Downie) and George Washington (Simon Harrison). Bonnie Prince Charlie’s red tartan was re-created based on a historic painting of the prince. Red dye was extremely expensive and used only for royalty and the rich.
What other shows have used the Outlander castle?
Does Castle Leoch look familiar? It’s been Winterfell in Game of Thrones and featured in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Its real name is Doune Castle and it’s located in Doune, Scotland.
Does Diana Gabaldon approve of the Outlander TV set?
Outlander was created in Gabaldon’s mind, so imagine her first set visit in season one, where she was able to literally walk around her world. While in the Great Hall at Leoch, she was asked by showrunner Ronald D. Moore, “Is this like you imagined?” And she replied, “Oh, it’s a whole lot better.” Production designer Jon Gary Steele had visited old castles and taken impressions of the stone walls, which he then replicated, to make it feel real.
Why Jamie is a believer in time travel on Outlander?
In 1743, when Claire is transported to the Scottish Highlands, what was practiced there was Keltic Christianity, which means that the Highlanders were Catholics, but they didn’t relinquish their pagan beliefs. They just entwined them. “So Jamie is actually totally prepared to believe all kinds of supernatural things,” Gabaldon explains. “And, therefore, is much less shocked than, say, a more modern man might be at hearing about time travel.”
What happened to Caitriona Balfe’s L.A. life?
Balfe had only three days after being cast as Claire to pack up and move to Scotland, so she rented a storage unit, and five seasons later, she says, “I’ve visited it a couple of times. It still holds half of my L.A. life.” Next, Is Outlander Getting a Spinoff?! Here’s What We Know
