Outlander’s Caitríona Balfe on Saying Goodbye to Claire and Jamie, Their Last Day on Set and the Show’s Legacy

The time-travel romantic historical drama Outlander returns for its eighth and final season on March 6th on STARZ.

Season Eight sees Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) return home to Fraser’s Ridge after years away where they must confront both outside intruders and family secrets.

I recently chatted with lead actress Caitríona Balfe about playing Claire Fraser for the last time and what she hopes the legacy of the series will be. (This interview has been edited for clarity.)

IGN: This show has been such a comforting thing for people for so long. And I think at a certain point you just take for granted, it’ll always be there. And for it to be ending, but for fans, it must be a little bit of stages of grief. I know there’s a prequel and everything, but it’s like it’s been around so long and it just always felt like it would be there.

Caitriona Balfe: We were young when we started it. It has been the most incredible journey and the most significant part of that journey has been the fandom because they have kept us on air and they have kept us employed and supported us and just been the greatest thing that we could have been a part of for over a decade.

And it does feel very strange to finish this. It was the longest job I’ve ever had. But look, I think more than 10 years playing the one character, and doing this one show, I think it was time for everybody. But hopefully what we have done is given them something to be proud of, and hopefully they’ll enjoy this last season, and then they’ll have these eight seasons to re-watch over and over if they ever need.

IGN: What do you want the lasting message or legacy of your Outlander series to be? What do you want people to take away from it in the end and how it’ll be remembered?

Caitriona Balfe: If there’s anything about Claire and Jamie, they led with love, but they were always seeking justice and fairness. And I think they were inclusive of people. I just think that they gave such a positive influence to the people around them. And I think in terms of the broader picture of their journey as immigrants to a country with a dream and an ideal about how to make that a better place is something that can resonate at this moment in our time, just maybe that there’s a resonance there.

IGN: I grew up in Boston steeped in colonial history, it’s everywhere. But I think people don’t realize just how violent the American Revolution was and how disruptive it was. It was a civil war, and so I appreciate that about Outlander is that they do show in the first episode, you’re not in the scene, but there are two loyalists that are strung up.

Caitriona Balfe: And I think people forget how young this country is and where their ancestors maybe came from, and what the reasons were. There was such a tentative… All of these social contracts are so fragile, and a Revolutionary War was trying to rid the people of this country of one oppressive system in the hopes of creating something that was about fairness and equality.

And I think that is maybe things that are, again, in a fragile state at this point. And it’s like it’s not that long ago, and I think you have to keep engaging with democracy, and keep engaging with these social contracts so that they benefit everybody.

We’ve all come from somewhere. I’m obviously Irish, but I lived here for a very long time, too. And I think we can’t forget that there were people here first, and that many people came here, and it’s a continuous cycle, and it doesn’t get to just stop. Well, I’m not American, so maybe I don’t have a point to say in that part.

IGN: I know we’ve got to dance around spoilers regarding Faith and Fanny, but what can fans expect to see from these revelations that we learned late in the game last season? What is the thing that fans can expect from that particular subplot this season?

Caitriona Balfe: Well, when we open up the season, I think we find out a lot more about potentially what happened, and we see that there’s quite a shocking scene in which Claire does something that I think is very, very shocking. And in that there’s old wounds reopened and there’s grief that is compounded as well as being reawakened.

But to that point, I think Fanny is this lifeline for both Claire and Jamie, where maybe they’ll never get to have met their daughter, but at least they might get to have a second chance with their granddaughter. And she’s played by such a wonderful actress, Florrie May Wilkinson, who’s so wonderful, and there’s such gorgeous scenes with her.

But she’s a young woman, a young girl who’s really endured an awful lot of pain. And so for Claire and Jamie it’s about trying to help her heal and give her security and love, and in that way, the entire family unit heals a little, I think.

Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) and Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) in Outlander, Season 8.

IGN: What was it like the last day on set, the last take? Was it like the last day of school? “I graduated, this is over!” or was it like a wake?

Caitriona Balfe: It was so strange. You never really know how you’re going to feel. And of course they gave us… It was Sam and I were shooting the last scene, and of course it was a seven-page scene in this bedroom and so much dialogue, but it had all of this double meaning about goodbyes, and legacy, and all of these things. So you start off the scene and it’s like, “Oh, this is a nice scene.”

And then as the scene went on, because it takes a few hours to film all the different things, the studio just started filling up with people. All our cast members came and were in the studio. There was studio execs, there was all the producers, it was all the production team, all of the crew, and it just got harder and harder, because every time you say those words, you find this deeper meaning in it that has resonance, not just for the character, but for you and for your journey and all of this.

And so by the time we got to the end, I was saying to somebody, I was having spasms in my forehead and face because I was such an emotional wreck. And they called cut, and I was sobbing like a… I don’t know. And we all had champagne and people were hugging, but at the same time, I was just going around crying in everyone’s faces like, “Oh, thank you so much! I can’t believe you finished.” But it was really special. This has been such an incredible journey and it changed all our lives, so it felt momentous.

IGN: I’m sure they scheduled that scene on purpose.

Caitriona Balfe: Of course, for a reason. How about it, guys?

IGN: You didn’t want the last day to be you just getting off a wagon or something.

Caitriona Balfe: This is true.

Outlander, Season Eight premieres on STARZ on Friday, March 6, with new episodes streaming weekly on Fridays.