Caitríona Balfe's Audition Tape Every Outlander Fan Needs to Watch
Can you believe that Outlander has been running for eight years now?
To celebrate this happy date, Starz has treated all fans of the time-jumping show to a short clip from Caitríona Balfe's audition tape for the role of Claire, Outlander's protagonist.
The video released on Sony Pictures' official YouTube account shows Caitríona reading a scene that old-time fans of the show instantly recognized — this is the moment when Claire first meets her future husband Jamie Fraser, played by Sam Heughan.
In the first episode, the Highlanders rescue Claire from Captain 'Black Jack' Randall and his Redcoats and take her to their hideout, where Jamie is suffering from a gunshot wound to the shoulder. Claire, who is a nurse, helps to treat the wound before they move on.
Even in this short audition video, Caitríona already emulates everything fans love about Claire. She is smart, confident and caring. Her every move and look expresses the flirtatious vibe that will later become the basis for the palpable chemistry between the main characters.
'I'm gonna go out on a proverbial limb and say her headshot pretty much sealed the deal,' a fan commented on the tape.
Other fans on YouTube agreed that the audition was outstanding, as was the performance that Caitríona Balfe has been delivering for years.
'We are so lucky that Outlander truly found the perfect actor for the role. Caitríona is such a talent,' another fan wrote.
While Balfe may not look like the protagonist of Diana Gabaldon's book series, fans claim that it's hard to imagine any other actress in the role. The show's creators confirm that the moment they laid eyes on Caitríona, it was crystal clear that she was the one.
However, this didn't happen until just days before filming was scheduled to begin, and the crew, who had already auditioned several other actresses for the role, became desperate.
Two of the actresses who could have played Claire went on to land other roles in the show. Nell Hudson played the antagonist Laoghaire MacKenzie, and Laura Donnelly ended up as Jenny Fraser, Jamie's sister. Probably the most intriguing candidate to play Claire was Grey's Anatomy's Katherine Heigl. She was reportedly in the running for the role when Outlander was set to be made into a movie.
It would certainly be interesting to see Heigl in the atmospheric 18th-century Scottish setting, but all Outlander fans agree that Caitríona Balfe is a much better fit.
Outlander Season 7 premieres June 16, 2023, on Starz.