Speaker 0 00:00:00 Hi Outlander fans. I'm Ila Ruby from the cosmic circus.com. We have a very special interview for you today with Hugh Ross and Sarah Collier from Outlander. I hope you'll give it a listen as they talk about everything, Mr. And Mrs. Bug, enjoy.
Speaker 2 00:00:26 Um, so I'm, I'm so happy you guys are here and happy to talk to you. Um, so obviously the last episode was pretty important, um, and super meaningful. Can you talk about, um, like what it was like when you got the scripts, when you, you know, first read what was happened? Or did you kind of know what was gonna happen with your characters?
Speaker 3 00:00:46 Well, we'd been given some, I mean, the indication that, uh, that our story was going to come into focus suddenly mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and you weren't quite sure exactly how it was going to pan out. And, uh, my dear wife wasn't quite sure when she was going to meet her maker. <laugh> knew it was coming along the road. Um, but it was, when we got the script, it was, it's a nice, a nice meaty script. Actually, not, but not many characters in this episode, actually. So the stories are kind of quite focused, not this. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4 00:01:21 But of course, it's interesting when you are the person who gets killed and then the person who dies and the effect on all the other characters. So, no, that, that was really interesting. Um, I don't think I've, I've been, I've been killed before on screen, but I've died <laugh>, but, but not in such a way. So it, it's really quite interesting because of course we've joined this family to work on the show mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, uh, we've, although our presence has been quite, you know, relatively shadowy, um, at the same time we felt absolutely part of the show. So, and part of the storyline. So we, we have, you find, you inevitably, you've, you've created a, an inner life that relates to the other characters and relates to the location and the house you're in, all of that, you've, you, it becomes a part of you, doesn't it?
Speaker 4 00:02:20 You Yeah. So when you leave it, it's, it's really altogether more interesting, even, although in acting terms, obviously there's not a lot I get done too, you know, and then I'm gone. But actually, I feel altogether it's the interesting thing of, you know, there is the, um, the, the, that mixture of being the performer and being, and the storyline, everything coming together. So I, um, uh, although there wasn't much acting to do, I then feel part of the, the feeling that everyone has after I've gone, you know? Yeah. We haven't explained that very well, but, uh, it's, um, no, I was really, uh, watching it, of course. Um, it's, uh, I, I get the feeling, I get the whole profound feeling that the bugs were absolutely part of the show. Oh, yeah. Um, yes, I know what it is. It's seeing others be seeing yourself the way others see you, that that's, that's the point I'm making. Yeah. Mm-hmm. That was good. Interesting.
Speaker 2 00:03:28 Now, obviously, um, obviously this sets up a lot of really, uh, dramatic things kind of going forward in the rest of, in the rest of season seven. Um, Hugh, can you talk about a little bit about what, um, what Ian's confession means and, you know, what, um, what this will mean for Arch and the rest of the Frasers going, you know, going forward?
Speaker 3 00:03:50 I'm not sure that I'm allowed to tell you <laugh> except that he, he is hell bent on revenge mm-hmm. <affirmative> and, um, uh, isn't gonna take the death of Medina without doing something about it. Um, yeah. So I think, um, unfortunately, I think you would have to wait and see.
Speaker 2 00:04:12 Do you think he is justified?
Speaker 3 00:04:15 Uh, when I think, I mean, the, the, the, the most important thing in his life has been, he's been robbed of it. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> of the woman who, you know, and that's why his vengeance is to make Ian suffer the same kind of loss. Yeah. That, that, so that the pain of going on without your right hand, uh, is more acute than actually having, you know, dying. Actually having to, to go on on your own is more painful.
Speaker 2 00:04:48 Yeah. Now, Sarah, I know there was a lot of speculation about, um, about, I guess your, your character when the season seven trailer came out. You know, there was that shot of the coffin, um, and fans were talking about it. Was it hard keeping the secret? Um, like were, were there any close calls were, you know, you almost let something split or slip. Um, how, how was that for you?
Speaker 4 00:05:14 Um, well, I knew, I knew as a performer, I knew what was happening to my character mm-hmm. <affirmative> ultimately. Um, and then I knew when it was happening, so, yes. And, and I, what I didn't know because the, the, uh, the scripts don't absolutely follow the books. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, what I didn't know really was what people were fans were expecting. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So, and, and then because, you know, I live my, I live my life, uh, not hugely on social media. In fact, virtually not on social media at all.
Speaker 2 00:05:55 That's good. <laugh>.
Speaker 4 00:05:56 So, um, I, uh, yes. I don't know what people were thinking.
Speaker 3 00:06:02 They were all spec, they were speculating about whose funeral it was. Ah, they didn't know funeral who was, who'd actually died. Ah,
Speaker 4 00:06:11 Right.
Speaker 3 00:06:12 Lot of discussion about it. Be meina, could it be, can't remember the other people I see signed up.
Speaker 4 00:06:18 Well, you see, I didn't, I was blissfully unaware of all
Speaker 3 00:06:21 Of this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there was some, a lot of speculation. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:06:26 Oh, that's good. That's, that's better. That
Speaker 4 00:06:28 Wasn't difficult for me. I just carried on with my life. You know, <laugh>,
Speaker 3 00:06:32 It's interesting the way the fans kind of, uh, forensically examines things to kind of try and find a clue as to what this is or where it's going and all that kind of thing. The passion, the passion of the fans is just breathtaking.
Speaker 2 00:06:48 I know there was a lot of, um, a lot of the fans were, were obviously like analyzing it and echo in the bone because, you know, that that also happens in the book. And they were trying to figure out, you know, when is this this gold storyline gonna happen? When is the bug storyline gonna happen?
Speaker 3 00:07:04 Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:07:06 Um, so for hu, for your character, you know, he talks a lot about oaths, I think in that, that scene with, with, um, Sam Hu's character or Sam Yeah, Jamie. Yeah. Um, he talks about his oath to, you know, king George. Do, can you, are we going to see any of that come into play? Can you share that? Or is that, you know,
Speaker 3 00:07:27 No, not more specifically, but I mean, I think we've been talking a bit about this already today, but the fact that, that his long to the cause to Scotland is the most important, has been the most important thing. And because that's not worked out and the money has been prolonged by other people, not notably to Caststone Co. But he feels perfectly entitled to have some of the money for himself. Yeah. If it's not, if it's not gonna go to, you know, to, to the mm-hmm.
Speaker 2 00:08:06 Do you think that, um, can you talk about filming, you know, your final senior character dressed up in, in artist's clothes, obviously, and, you know, there, there's a case of mistaken identity. Um, you know, what was that like? Was it a night shoot? You know what,
Speaker 4 00:08:21 In my memory it was pretty dark at the time. Um, and, uh, I did have a stunt double for the, for the fall. Um, and then, and yeah, because obviously it's better to have a younger person falling. Um, and then I took over and, uh, it's technical, no dying. Um, and, uh, in fact, you don't want to do a lot of takes where blood's involved you. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> really don't want to do a lot of takes. So you, you rehearse without the blood, in fact, the, when the actual blood was there mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, that was I think just the, the one take.
Speaker 2 00:09:06 Oh, okay.
Speaker 4 00:09:08 Uh, because it technically, it wasn't at that stage quite as difficult as, um, more movement is always, but, and the blood worked very well because I was actually choking on the blood. Um, so that worked well for the moment.
Speaker 2 00:09:26 Oh, wow.
Speaker 4 00:09:27 Uh, so my gurgling was real. It was me keeping that blood from going down my windpipe. So that was quite interesting. But I, I wasn't worried about it. I was just aware it was happening. I thought, oh, this is good, this is good. This is very, this is real, you know?
Speaker 2 00:09:40 Yeah.
Speaker 4 00:09:41 Um, and, uh, yeah, so it's, uh, yeah, so I said it's dying is technical for everyone. Um, although obviously then the, the characters around me, they then have the emotional acting to do. Um,
Speaker 2 00:09:58 Do you think that, um, that that arch knew about, uh, about Mrs. Bug's plan to dress up in his clothing and, you know, didn't
Speaker 4 00:10:11 I, didn't we, we, we thought that he didn't, we thought that she was probably going freelance there. Mm. And that he might have said, uh, this is too risky. Uh, no, we thought that really this is a desperate, um, attempt by Meina to make something happen. Um, because clearly her blood is up and she's, she's, uh, they, after the, all the drama, um, there, there is that sense of every man for himself. And, uh, I think a, a, a certain panic and a certain desperation mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 00:10:48 <affirmative>, I think she's always had to give out a bit of a push, you know?
Speaker 4 00:10:54 Yes. No, I, I absolutely. I I think actually if she'd run it by him, he would've said, I don't think so, darling. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 3 00:11:06 <affirmative>,
Speaker 2 00:11:07 Is there anything else that, um, you know, that you think people should know about this, this particular episode or the season going forward? Um, you know, what your, or your characters.
Speaker 3 00:11:20 Um, I think they should, hopefully, there'll be sad about the death of Medina, and hopefully they'll be desperately curious to know what the revenge is going to be.
Speaker 2 00:11:33 So, you know, obviously you joined Outlander in previous seasons. Can you talk about what it was like, um, you know, auditioning for your roles, what it was like, um, coming on board? You know, because it's obviously, and you've talked about the family aspect, it's obviously such a strong, um, like cast family, crew, family. What was, what
Speaker 3 00:11:53 I'd always hope, I'd rather hope to be in there because, um, Sam and I worked with Sam when he was starting his career. I think actually in about season two, I sent him a message on somewhere on social media and said, Hey, Sam, can I be an out and I please redo something about it? But nothing happened. Um, but he sent me a nice message back. But it finally, of course, then comes the Hugh, you've got in a meeting with, uh, Suzanne Smith, <inaudible> being inland, blah, blah, blah. Look at this scene. You learn the scene, you go and do it, and they send it away. And then you wait and wait and wait. And then either you've got it or you haven't. And this time we were lucky, weren't we Zealand? Mm-hmm.
Speaker 4 00:12:33 <affirmative>. Yeah. Yes. And I was in Egypt at the time that I was asked to do a self-tape. So, uh, self tapes are wonderful. You can actually, uh, go on holiday and, uh, classically when we go on ho we'd go, go on holiday. If we go abroad, uh, either myself or my husband, usually my husband will have to go back to Britain to do something or to, but actually with self taping, it's wonderful because, uh, you know, I was able to self tape in Egypt and, um, and then ultimately got the job. So that was a really, um, no, it was great. And actually the, I loved the audition piece I was given because I had lots of material to, uh, to use there. Um, so
Speaker 2 00:13:21 Are there any favorite moments that you, um, that you filmed so far or, you know, that you, you filmed over the course of, you know, being on the show? Anything that really sticks out to you?
Speaker 3 00:13:34 Um, terrible saying earlier, I, I enjoyed little scene in the horse and cart with, um, um, Josiah, one of the Beardsley instead Ho he wasn't gonna the chatty one. That was a good fun scene. Lots of little glimpses of humor that was with in the script sometimes kind of dryness about art that I like.
Speaker 4 00:13:56 Absolutely. And I, I think I just, it's, it's very hard to pick out scenes. 'cause obviously there are moments where quite a bit of actings required in a scene, and obviously you love that because you get to act, and then there are all sorts of moments where they're just little moments, but actually in themselves, they're as, as, uh, Hugh says, they can be a little bit comedic, just a little or a little bit this, a little bit, you know? And so in the end, you just kind of love it all because it all makes you feel as though you are a, a full person, you know? Mm-hmm. You're, you're a character with different sides. So it's, it's enjoyable being a, a small little pers a small part of a bigger scene in its way, uh, as being, having the main acting to do in the scene. It's just a different aspect. Wouldn't you say Hugh?
Speaker 3 00:14:47 Absolutely. Yes.
Speaker 2 00:14:50 About, um, you've died on screen before mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, can you talk about how, how this, you know, dying on screen as, as Meina was maybe different than, than dying on screen other otherwise, like you, you've talked about it being technical. Is there anything that, um, that was unique, I guess?
Speaker 4 00:15:11 Um, I suppose this was emotional because of, partly because it was accidental. So even, although
Speaker 2 00:15:22 <laugh>,
Speaker 4 00:15:22 Sorry about that. Um, uh, yes. Well, it was just sad, really sad for the character and having spent time with the character over three series mm-hmm. <affirmative>, there's, I feel sad for the character as well. You know, it's that you find that you've invested emotionally in your character and in, so Yes. And then I'm, I'm interested in what the other characters feel about me after I'm gone, you know? And so, no, that's, that's been the, the revelation or the, you know, it's not just a a, a dying and then a zipped up in a body bag. It's actually, um, someone in the community who's gone, someone in the family who's gone, and how this affects everybody. So it, it's been a very particular experience of dying. Yes. And altogether richer than, you know, and I look at the script and, and then you think, oh, yes, I die. I know that. Be technical and well, that's it. But actually in the event, the whole thing felt like a richer experience than just dying.
Speaker 2 00:16:33 Interesting. I think, you know, just Outlander in general, you know, is very, very emotional and you feel very connected and deeply, you know, connected to the characters. And I think in particular, Mrs. Bug, I think Ian summed it up, um, you know, very well. He just, he had grown up with her essentially, you know, he had been very close with her and just, you can really feel that character's loss. Um,
Speaker 3 00:16:57 We were saying, even though we were kind of, you know, peripheral in some ways, we were, we felt very much that we were part of the, of the, of the Ridge family, that we were actually there. That, you know, there was a little scene where I was reading to Germany little boy that, you know, that we were sort of part of the family. Yeah. What, what an amazing task to accommodate all those characters and all those different storylines and Achieve is fantastic.
Speaker 2 00:17:25 I'm in a how it all weaves together and just the skill that it takes to create such a, a beautiful show. And, and this last episode was fantastic. So, you know, both of you are amazing.
Speaker 3 00:17:36 Oh, thank you.
Speaker 2 00:17:38 And I think, I think I might be done, um, as far as time, so I just got the little chat box. Um, but thank you both so much.
Speaker 3 00:17:46 Thank you very much. Thank you.
Speaker 2 00:17:48 Bye. Nice meeting you.
Speaker 5 00:17:49 Bye-bye. Take care. Bye-bye.
Speaker 2 00:17:53 Thank you for listening. You can find the companion article for this podcast, along with all the other news for those who like superheroes, science fiction and fantasy films, TV shows, and other
[email protected]. Have a great day.
