In 2013, when she was still a struggling, no-name actress, Balfe endured an audition for the character of Claire that went nowhere fast. But, as she explained recently on The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast AwardsChatter, that turned out to be just her first audition: A chance meeting helped her get a second chance at the part, which has since become her breakout role. Keep reading to find out how Caitriona Balfe was discovered and what it took to land the part of Claire Fraser on Outlander.
How was Caitriona Balfe discovered?
Pre-Outlander, former model Balfe couldn’t seem to find her place in the acting industry—yet she felt that the right part for her had to be out there. “I just knew that if I was given a big enough role, I could sink my teeth into it,” she explained on AwardsChatter. Still, before she auditioned for Outlander, things were looking dire. “I was coming up to four or five months of having not worked," she recalled, “and definitely you’re questioning your purpose and how much longer can you afford to hang on.” Just in the nick of time, Balfe’s manager suggested she send in a tape for a new television role—but all that was available about the character was a vague, two-line description. “My manager had sent me this two or three-line logline and was like, ‘Here, tape this audition,’” Balfe said. “It was such a thinly drawn description of the role, of the character.” The info she was given made no reference to the name Claire, the title of the show or the books by Diana Gabaldon that the series is based on. “None of that information was on it,” Balfe explained. “It was basically ‘a nurse.’ There was no personality description. I think it was, ‘a nurse, 1940s.’ It didn’t even mention, I think, the time travel. It was literally two lines.” Why wasn’t she given more to go on? “I think this is what people also don’t understand is that when you are as low down on the rung as I was at that point, every bit of access is minimized,” Balfe said. “So if I had had an agent and an agency and all of those things, I probably would have gotten half a page of a logline. I would have gotten who the creators are, what the network is, what the order is. Is it just a pilot? Is it a full season order? All of these things. But you don’t. You just get these two little lines, and it’s like, ‘Make something up out of that.’” Balfe did the best she could to envision the character on her own, crafted a homemade audition tape to submit for the role and hoped for the best. “So I sent in a tape and didn’t hear anything,” she said—which isn’t shocking, considering she really didn’t know how to interpret the material. “I think what I had done in that tape wasn’t really representative of Claire.” And that might have been the end of it had fate not intervened. “Then I actually went to Belgium to shoot three days on an indie film,” Balfe said. “While I was over in Europe, I went to London. My manager had put me in touch with an agent in London and I’d had a meeting with him.” Seeing something special in Balfe, the agent immediately thought of her for the part of Claire on Outlander. “He was like, ‘I think you’d be really good for this role,’” Balfe said. “I was like, ‘Oh, I’ve already auditioned for that. They didn’t want me.’ He said, ‘Well, can I see your tape?’ I sent it to him, and he was like, ‘You know, I don’t think that that’s what they’re looking for. Here’s a better description of the character. Here’s a little bit more in depth. Will you re-tape?’ I said, ‘Of course, I’m literally doing nothing else.’ So I re-taped, and it went in.” Turns out, his advice would save her audition—and make her career. As these things usually happen, Balfe then planned a vacation—which she wouldn’t end up going on, because the creators called to meet her in person right away. “Once I booked the holiday I heard that they wanted to see me, so that’s how that came about,” Balfe said. All thanks to that London agent! The production was so under the gun to find their Claire, in fact, that Balfe had to come in almost immediately to do a chemistry test with the actor cast in the role of Jamie—another unknown named Sam Heughan. “It went straight from having sent in that [second] tape, not hearing anything for maybe two weeks and then all of a sudden they want you to do the chemistry read,” Balfe recalled. “They were so down to the wire—they were supposed to start shooting mid-September and this was happening in August. Sam had already been cast in June, so I don’t think they had time to go through many rounds.” After she got the call to come in, she had three days to read the first Outlander book before her test with Heughan—after which the production team finally knew they had found their Claire. “I did the chemistry read and then it was like, ‘Can you move to Scotland in three days?’” she laughs. Balfe remembers executive producer Ronald D. Moore walking her to elevator after they met, and giving her some memorable encouragement. “His exact words were, ‘Are you ready for your life to change?’ He literally said that as the elevator was opening, and I was like, ‘I guess?’” Balfe said. The announcement of Balfe’s casting on Outlander came on September 11, 2013, with production beginning soon after—and the rest is history! Balfe is also up for SAG, Critic’s Choice and BAFTA awards for her performance in the movie Belfast, in addition to the new season of Outlander premiering on Starz March 6. Next, check out the latest sneak peek from season 6 of Outlander and find out which cast member calls it his favorite season yet!
