Maria Doyle Kennedy will play Aunt Jocasta in Outlander Season 4, but how much do you know about the actress?
When Maria Doyle Kennedy was announced as the actress playing Aunt Jocasta, fans started discussing the look and whether this was the person they pictured. Then the comments moved on the actress and the things she’d been in before. This is important to get an idea of how she could portray the character in Outlander Season 4.
Here’s a look at Maria and her past work. Just who is she and what can we expect?
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You may know her from The Tudors
This won’t be Maria’s first jump into the world of period drama. Many Outlander fans will have instantly recognized her as Catherine of Aragon in the series The Tudors. Maria was in the first two seasons of the series, which picked up from around 1520, at the time that Catherine was losing the love of King Henry VIII of England.
Maria took on a heartbreaking and exhausting role, and portrayed it beautifully. It was possible to connect with this discarded and mistreated queen, as she lost access to her daughter, Mary, and died lonely and devastated.
The Tudors isn’t her only jump into period drama. Maria also played Vera Bates on Downton Abbey.
She’s a beautiful singer
The Irish actress was a singer before taking up the role of playing characters professionally. This shouldn’t mean much for Aunt Jocasta, but there is the opportunity to add a little more music to Outlander. One of the reasons Claire sang in the first season was because Caitriona Balfe enjoys singing on set.
Maybe fans will get to see Jocasta and Claire sing together. It will be interesting to see 18th century and 20th century music combine.
She has long-term commitments in the bag
Aunt Jocasta could be a long term commitment. Even if the show sticks purely to the books with her storyline, Jocasta will be in Seasons 4 and 5 (and we’re certain there will be a fifth season). This will lead to a lot of work and not all actresses are used to it, but Maria has that in the bag.
Her most recent series was Orphan Black, where she is credited for 50 episodes. While she didn’t end up appearing in all, she was certainly in the majority of them, proving her commitment to her work. She also showed her ability to make you question which side a character is on, making sure to plan ahead, and this will come in handy for Aunt Jocasta.
She has comedy and serious roles on her resume
While Outlander is a drama, there is comedy mixed into it. With that in mind, it’s important to find an actress who can do both. Maria has already shown her ability in her varied resume. She’s been acting since 1991 and has had roles on the likes of Father Ted, Queer as Folk, Dexter and Call the Midwife. There’s likely nothing that she can’t do.
While Maria may not be the person you had in mind for Aunt Jocasta, there are certainly benefits to her taking on the role. This is a woman who will definitely not let you down.
Next: Outlander Season 4: Who is Ed Speleers?
Are you excited to see Maria Doyle Kennedy take up the role of Aunt Jocasta? What do you remember her from? Share in the comments below.
Outlander Season 4 premieres in fall 2018. Like Claire and Jamie on Facebook for more updates as soon as we have them.