While the books continue, the television adaptation of Outlander is coming to a close. Following 10 years of lust and drama, and before the premiere of the final episodes, The Pop Insider spoke with the cast of the Netflix series to get brand new details on the show.
Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser), Caitriona Balfe (Claire Fraser), Richard Rankin (Roger Wakefield), Sophie Skelton (Brianna Fraser), John Bell (Ian Murray), book series author Diana Gabaldon, and Outlander Executive Producer Maril Davis spoke with us at New York Comic Con (NYCC) — where we learned what merchandise the team would like to see, what fan experiences they would set up, and how they’re feeling toward the end of the series.
Does It Ever Stop? The Wanting Merch?
Merchandise is one way for people to express their love for a fandom, include their favorite characters in their everyday life, or (especially in Outlander’s case) continue investing in a franchise or series that is coming to an end. Although Outlander has been around for a decade, fans recognize that there’s not a lot of officially licensed merchandise available.
The Pop Insider asked Heughan, Wakefield, Balfe, and Davis what merchandise they’d like to see on the market.
“There is a slight lack of merchandise for Outlander,” Heughan reveals. “We’ve been approached, we’ve done a few things, but I’m always kind of slightly confused about what they actually choose to make official merchandise. I mean, not to throw rocks at anyone, but I just feel like there’s a great opportunity. I’d love to see some more fun stuff.”
The cast also debated bringing Roger into Barbie’s world. “I think it [official Roger merchandise] would be a figure, where you turn his body, and it’s [Roger’s] different time periods.” Rankin adds. “Roger Barbie, I’m here for it.”
Davis also remarks that she could see a Roger doll with his hairy chest and joked about mentioning a line of Roger dolls to Sony. Additionally, the cast members played with the idea of a doll version of Jamie that transforms into his different versions. “You could have your season one Jamie, then a few clicks, and it becomes the season two Parisian,” Rankin says.
While Mattel’s Barbie collection is a great fit, Heughan also mentions the ultimate collectible: Funko Pops. “I love Funko Pops, those were cool. I know they were limited, but they were kind of fun. I’ve got a couple of those at home, and they’re great collectibles.”
Rankin lamented the lack of official Roger Funko Pops, but enjoyed how fans have created homemade versions. For LEGO fans, Heughan is right there with you — he expressed interest in a LEGO Outlander line!
I'm a huge LEGO fan. I think some LEGO little figurines of us would be so cool, imagine the [castle] or standing stones … you could have a little mechanism that you put the figure in and he goes in and disappears inside the room. LEGO, you heard it from me, I want a piece of this commission!
“I’m a huge LEGO fan. I think some LEGO little figurines of us would be so cool, imagine the [castle] or standing stones … you could have a little mechanism that you put the figure in and he goes in and disappears inside the room,” Heughan says. “LEGO, you heard it from me, I want a piece of this commission!”
When it comes to merchandise, Balfe took a different approach — one that cosplayers especially might enjoy. “I’m going to go with Claire’s, her amazing surgery and all of her amazing instruments. I think a little branded scissors set with a little knife and things that would be very chic. Yeah, I would be into that,” she says. This could include a scalpel, and as Balfe mentions, “I was trying to be nice and be like a knife, but yes, a scalpel.. [maybe] an oil range and stuff.”
Take Me Home to an ‘Outlander’ Fan Experience
While merchandise is a great way to enter a universe, fans often have a great desire to visit the set — and the cast has a few ideas on how that could happen. During the interview, The Pop Insider asked Balfe, Skelton, and Bell to design their ideal, immersive fan experience. There are several locations, time periods, and settings that could be translated into a walkable, interactive experience, and the team had a few selections.
Balfe believes that fans could truly be immersed in the universe and experience life on the ship. “There’s so many good ones … when they were on their way to Jamaica and Claire were on the ship, and they had typhoid outbreak … I mean, it felt like an interactive experience for us because they’d use this South African kind of porridge, but they’d used it with milk, and they’d put it on the clothes and everything. But then we’d shot on the Friday and come back on the Monday, and it was sour and stinky, and it was hot. And all of us were like, ‘oops.’ But that kind of thing, it really felt like you were in the bowel of a ship and all of that. So I don’t know, that could be a cool one.”
If fake ships riddled with disease aren’t your desired pathway into the Outlander universe, Bell and Skelton have other ideas for a walkable fan experience. According to Skelton, the castles would make a great setting. “Casillo, I feel like it would be cool if you have little dungeons and ruins going on. Like, little ghosts and ghouls and stuff running around. I don’t know, just with Halloween coming.”
I would definitely give fans the experience to walk through a Mohawk Village [that is] thriving.
Bell suggested a village for fans to explore. “One of my favorite sets was the Mohawk Village that they built in season four. So I would definitely give fans the experience to walk through a Mohawk Village [that is] thriving. I think that’s really good, that’s what I pick. There were so many details in that set. They really told the story of the people’s lives at that time, whether it was the tanning or the hunting or anything. Everything came together. It was beautiful, he adds.
You Will Not Be Parted from ‘Outlander’
After several seasons, fans might be reluctant to see their favorite series end. However, Gabaldon told us that there’s no need to worry — even if it doesn’t match the ending of the tenth book.
“I have, in fact, written the ending to book 10. So don’t anybody blame it on me that they’re not using it. The reasons are multiple for not using it. But to the main one is that it’s a very complex ending. It has a lot of moving parts that lead up to the actual, and then there’s a couple of other moving parts that happen after that, which is not, they don’t have room is the basic reason. Now what they did do works and they ended it with a flare it,” she says.
While fans celebrate the ending of an iconic decade of love, time travel, and incredible costumes, the cast feels a similar, bittersweet feeling.
“It is a demanding role in a demanding show. Our schedule’s very intense and Claire’s sort of like there 99% of the time. But it’s been amazing,” Balfe recalls. “I was such a novice actor. I hadn’t a lot of experience when I got this show, and I think I’ve had the best education that you could ever get. I’ve been given the gift of every single possible emotion, so many different challenging scenarios. But there’s so much action. There’s so much drama, but it’s also the technical side of things, and I think I’ve grown so much.”
Roger notes that, while the series length is remarkable on its own, the impact a long-running show has on the crew is incredible.
“It’s a very rare thing to have that opportunity to work with a character for such a long time. I’ve been on the show for I think eight or nine,” Rankin stresses. “Sam obviously has been 10, 11. So to have that, I think for me, the biggest thing I take away from it is the experience of that and what that offers you to have. Being able to be on a show that’s been so long-running and the experience of being in front of camera for that long and environment that you’re comfortable with, and people that you’ve been working with for such a long time, I think affords you an opportunity to get a lot from that, I think as an actor in terms of sort of practice of your craft.”
Heughan added similar remarks, telling The Pop Insider that “because you’ve been on it so long that actually not only do the characters, for instance this season back in Scotland, we have so many memories as the characters, so much history, but actually as actors … so you’re not having to conjure up memories. You’re living it. One of the joys of working on a show for so long is that you have an inbuilt context and a memory that you’re not having to do extra work as an actor. It’s there. It’s a great gift actually.”
The cast revealed their favorite off-screen moments, too, including Taylor Swift and comic cons of the past. “I think one of my favorite memories in recent times anyway was when we all went to Edinburgh to the Taylor Swift concert,” Rankin remembers. “That was quite a night. That was a blast. And yeah, lots of funny stories from that night that I probably won’t go into. That was a good time.”
Heughan continues Rankins’ thought process by mentioning the camaraderie of attending press events and panels. “There’s a bitter sweetness of us even being here this week … it’s the time, when we have a great time, and we mess around and we get to just hang out. And realizing even being here is probably our last or ultimate comic con together. And it’ll feel very different next time. And it’s like, ‘oh sh*t.’ It’s fun to hang out and have all those experiences, and will that happen again? Will I get on another show or another movie that has that cycle? … Because will you be in a show that long?”
Even if they aren’t in another show that runs this long, Outlander fans will remain grateful that — if anything — they were given 10 years of this cast, crew, and story. The final pieces of the Starz story will premiere during Outlander Season 7: Part Two on Nov. 22.
