Sophie Skelton shares why she hadn’t watch Outlander before landing her role
Sophie Skelton hadn’t watched Outlander before landing the role of Brianna. Don’t blame her, though. You can blame the delayed viewing in the UK.
While at Wizard World Chicago, the cast and author of Outlander took to the stage in a full panel. They shared what it was like being cast in the show (and what the adaptation has been like in Diana Gabaldon’s case) and whether they knew about it before landing the roles. Sophie Skelton knew about it but hadn’t watched it.
The lack of watching wasn’t for the lack of trying. Britain got a delayed viewing of the first season thanks to Prime Minister at the time, David Cameron. Leaks from emails would later show that Cameron had talked to Sony about a delayed viewing for fear that the show would influence the Scottish Independence Referendum result.
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The Scottish Indy Ref was held in Sept. 2014, at the same time as the first season was being released. It wasn’t until March 2015 that the first season was finally aired on Amazon Prime UK.
However, there would have been time for Sophie Skelton to watch the series before landing the role of Brianna. Casting for the character for Outlander Season 2 was announced by Deadline on Jan. 28, 2016, 10 months after the first season aired on Amazon Prime.
Skelton wasn’t the only star not to have watched Outlander before landing the role. Graham McTavish and Lotte Verbeek hadn’t read the novels–in fact, McTavish hadn’t even heard of them! Nobody knew the series was going to become as big as it is, but it’s certainly become Scotland’s answer to Game of Thrones.
Next. Outlander Season 4: A spotlight on Brianna's journey [Spoilers]. dark
Were you surprised to hear about the delayed viewing and the reasons? Are you shocked Sophie Skelton didn’t quickly catch up before landing the role of Brianna? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Outlander Season 4 premieres on Nov. 4 at 8/7c on STARZ.