Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat is one of the only characters in Outlander: Blood of My Blood (so far) based on someone from real history. And the real Simon Fraser was a tricky and scheming man, and Tony Curran has certainly brought a lot of that to life.
If you’ve followed me at Claire and Jamie for a while, you’ll know that I love the story of the real Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat. He’s a fascinating person when you start to look at everything he did before, during, and after both the First and Second Jacobite Rebellions. He would become the last man to be executed at the Tower of London in 1747, and there has been a long discussion about where his body now actually lies.
Tony Curran has shared from the start of Outlander: Blood of My Blood that Simon being a real historical person is something that drew him into this role. There is a world of knowledge to help shape this character, and I can say that Curran hasn’t disappointed.
In Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1, episode 7, Simon continues to scheme. He believes that Julia’s baby is his, and that this baby will be the King of Scotland in the future. On top of that, he’s learned that Brian was the one to “ruin” Ellen, finally giving Brian praise for something that Brian doesn’t want praise for. We chatted about all of these storylines, and much more, as we also have to ask about Davina’s safety at this point.
Claire and Jamie: I’ve always been fascinated by Lord Lovat, and your performance has been everything I’ve needed and more to bring him to life. What’s it been like for you to bring this scheming person to Outlander: Blood of My Blood?
Tony Curran: First of all, thanks for that. Some people have asked me, why did I want to play this role? A lot of how I answer that question is the fact that Simon Fraser, Lord Lovat walked this Earth. He was around for 80, 82 years before he got ceremoniously executed at the Tower of London in 1747.
Now, I want to read the scripts! The first two or three scripts, before we started shooting season 1, I spoke to Matthew Roberts about who he was, what does he want, where he’s going, what makes him tick. It’s a rich part of this man, and I think Matthew and I were definitely on the same page. I was really excited to get my teeth into it, and get my teeth into other people, which is very much like The Old Fox.
I also love filming in my hometown of Glasgow. I love shooting in my own country. I’m so fortunate. It’s very humbling to go back in time to the 18th century and delve into the Jacobite history of the time. I was just overjoined to be asked to be a part of it.
C&J: Lord Lovat now knows about Brian and Ellen. What’s he scheming at this point?
TC: It’s so interesting, the relationship between Brian and him. One minute, I’m sort of knocking him in his butt, chastising him. The next minute, I’m praising him for something he didn’t actually do. I don’t want the Grants eating with the MacKenzies, that’s going to weaken my position. The Grants are my ally, as Lord Lovat says at one point.
The fact that he’s got this information that her purity might be called into question. As someone said in the show, she’s ruined. Quite simply, his plan is all coming together. This is a really fortuitous moment.
This is definitely going to be the demise of the MacKenzies, and enable Lord Lovat to keep wielding his wily way down this path to what will hopefully be his former glory, to Beaufort. A lot of people online are like, ‘why do you live in Leathers? Why don’t you own your own castle?’ Well, I did not fall from grace, I was pushed, and he wants to get back in the saddle very much, and he’ll do anything ot achieve that.
C&J: And he’s always trying to manipulate things. I love in Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1, episode 7 that he tells Brian he’s opted for a Protestant baptism for the baby because a Catholic can’t be a king. What do you see as being his long-term game him?
TC: Yeah, that’s not allowed. People look at him and say he shouldn’t do that, but he moves the goal posts for his own agenda. Simon is his second b*****d son, and that means he can’t be married. So, he has to change the directory, and sadly the reverend had an unfortunate ending. He’s trying to tie up loose ends, and doesn’t want anybody telling anybody anything that will remotely jeopardize his ascension back to power, and hopefully, his son Simon becoming the future King of Scotland.
Sorry, ask me the question again, because I was rambling.
C&J: What do you see his long game being?
TC: It’s obviously to get out of this decreped little place, Leathers, which is an incredible set. It’s to get back to where he fell from, and every little fortuitous thing that comes his way—he has a child that Maisri says could become a king—he can’t believe this is happening. So, he’s feeling well about all that.
Ellen and Brian is another piece of the puzzle that may make others fall around him, and he can walk off into the distance. I think he wants to get back to Beaufort, most definitely. Once there, he wants to go shopping and get some nice glad rags back on. The costumer designers on set made these beautiful garments, but they’re also worn. You can see he doesn’t have any jewelry because he sold it all. He’s really down on his luck, and I think that was fun when I read the first episodes of the season. This is his comeback story.
He will find a way, by all means necessary, to get back to where he belongs. So, I think he just wants to be back to his affluence, back to Beaufort, and back to being respected. There are elements of him that doesn’t really care what anybody thinks of him, but his ego does.
C&J: You mentioned the priest being killed off, because he doesn’t want anyone to know the truth. What about Davina? We know she’s not in Outlander, so do we have to worry he might do something to her?
TC: Look at you! You know your stuff! Well, he does warn her, and Davina’s just trying to warn him about Julia. There’s a bit of him that listens to her, but then his ego wants the baby to be his. But, you know, loose lips sinks ships, and she better keep her emotions under control.
C&J: And now Davina has teamed up with Julia to protect her.
TC: I know! To keep me from performing in the old bedroom. That was quite crazy. I thought it was funny.
I’ve done love-making scenes before, but this profession never ceases to amaze me. As much as I love to play Simon Fraser, I always say if there’s ever a chance for the girls or anybody to really undermine him, to go at his ego and humiliate him, I’m all for it. And then the girls get one up on him! Simon might not like the outcome.
C&J: He thinks he’s the smartest person in the room, and usually, he’s the laughing stock.
TC: Yeah. I’ve said it before, and I don’t really like to say it, but it’s true. He’s a bit of a clown at times. He’s so wrapped up in his own head, in his own world, that he reminds me of a few people. He’s so wrapped up in his own ego—that malignant narcissism, if I can put it like that—that he’s canny and he’s a wise old fox to a point, but then he misses things, because he doesn’t suspect.
Also, in his eyes, they’re just women. In his behavior and nature to the fairer sex, he uses and abuses people for his own ends, but when he gets his comeuppance in some way, shape, or form, it’s always fun to play. My wife always likes it.
C&J: I have to finish by asking you about if you’ve worked with Clive Russell for this or if you’ve watched his scenes in Outlander season 2, because there are times I see strong similarity between your version and his version.
TC: I actually played golf with Clive—He’s an old friend of mine—at St. Andrews a few weeks ago, about a month ago. I’d seen up to season 6, so I had seen it, but that was a few years ago. I didn’t go back and rewatch it. I knew that he played Lord Lovat, though.
For me, it was just doing a deep dive into the history of Simon Fraser. So, I just talked with Matt Roberts and read the scripts, bringing it to life from there.
It was fascinating and interesting to actually dive deep into the history of this man and how Machiavellian he appears to be. It’s very possible that he behaved like this, with feet in both camps. It was just beneficial to him. I guess I’ve integrated a lot of the historical elements into the performance.
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on STARZ.
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