Show bosses had to rethink the plot after a key time travel gaffe involving Claire Fraser and the rings in Season 2.
Outlander is famed for its incredible time travel, but when something went wrong with one of lead actor Claire Fraser’s scenes after they had wrapped up filming, Outlander show bosses sprung into action.
In one particular instance during the show’s second season, producers felt compelled to adjust a scene involving Claire Fraser, played by Belfast actress Caitriona Balfe’s mystical rings, they had to make changes post-production before eagle-eyed fans spotted the mistake.
On the Outlander podcast, executive producer Ronald D. Moore divulged: “At the very beginning – way back at Craigh na Dun, her discovering that she lost the ring and trying to find the ring, and then realizing the stone of the ring was gone – that was something we added much later in the process, well after the show was done for various story reasons of time travel that we needed to establish – that you will discover later.”
Meanwhile TV fans have been given a clue as to how Claire Fraser really feels about getting her hands dirty in some of the most gut-wrenching scenes the show has seen.
The popular show had fans gripped with the latter part of season 7 as Caitriona and Sam Heughan returned as the resilient Claire Fraser and her husband Jamie Fraser. Now a behind-the-scenes interview on the official Outlander podcast has revealed how Caitriona copes with the blood and gore.
Outlander show writer Anne Kenney and executive producer Ronald D. Moore opened up about Catriona’s process for the surgery scenes on the podcast. Anne said, “Caitríona, I’ve never known her to be any kind of squeamish about any of this stuff,” adding that even “cooked rabbits” didn’t perturb the Belfast star.
Ronald added surprisingly, “I don’t think she is. I don’t think she has any problems with it.” He explained, “Day one on the show is her in the field hospital in World War II with open wounds and blood spurting everywhere, raw, really nasty stuff. So, I think she got over it really quickly.”
The duo also discussed the challenges involved in shooting such stomach-turning moments due to their complexity. Ronald acknowledged the difficulty, noting that “obviously, she can’t do this on the guy’s legs.”
Anne and Ronald also shared the method of shooting medical scenes varied, with Balfe sometimes filming with makeup applied directly to her skin or just a close-up on a prosthetic while excluding the rest of the person from the shot.