Season two of Outlander was a tough one to film
Fans of the popular series Outlander may have overlooked an important detail from the storyline in which Claire Fraser, played by Caitríona Balfe, is poisoned by the Comte St. Germain, played by Stanley Weber, in season two.
The Comte and other French nobles orchestrated the poisoning as revenge for Claire’s actions, which resulted in the destruction of a ship and its cargo due to an outbreak of smallpox.
However, what viewers might not be aware of is that the scene was filmed in a different manner than how it appeared on screen.
In a previous episode of the official Outlander podcast, executive producers Ronald D. Moore and Toni Graphia discussed the behind-the-scenes details of the sequence.
Moore explained that the Paris scenes were filmed in Scotland, while certain scenes were saved for filming in Prague, reports the Daily Record.
Graphia added that the interior Paris scenes were shot in Scotland, and Moore elaborated on the complex process of crossboarding, where scenes are separated and filmed in batches.
Moore said: “All the Paris stuff was shot in Scotland and then we went to Prague at the end.”
Graphia went on to explain: “The interior Paris stuff was shot in Scotland, but we saved certain scenes.”
Moore said: “Which is very complicated, it’s called crossboarding when you’re separating scenes like that and shooting in batches, which is a practice.
“But doing it as aggressively as we did in season two with Prague and Scotland and France and the South of England, and all this kind of stuff, it’s very complicated – not just in terms of production but also for the actors.
“Because the actors have to remember where there were. I don’t how they do it.”
Writer Graphia praised the cast for their ability to switch between these different parts of the story and deliver strong performances: “Hats off to them.
“They have to shoot all these things out of order and today it’s like, ‘Hey, am I happy? Am I sad? Am I mad at Jamie? How far along in the story are we?”
“It’s very tricky to boomerang those emotions from day to day and they do it masterfully.”
Executive producer Moore added: “They do it so well. Like this sequence is the aftermath of her poisoning but they hadn’t shot the poisoning yet. We didn’t shoot the poisoning for months.”
This means actress Balfe would have had to marry up her performance from the aftermath of the poisoning with the attempt itself, which was shot months down the line.
Outlander season 7 is available to buy now on Digital and is streaming on MGM+ via Prime Video now