With the premiere of the second half of season seven now only days away, social media has been flooded with promotional interviews and teaser clips. Cast members have been making appearances and giving interviews, all of which have made the lengthy Droughtlander a little more bearable. The willingness of cast to engage with fans is something that has always been admirable, with actors prepared to travel far and wide to promote the show.
Earlier this year, some of the current and past cast - Sam Heughan, Duncan Lacroix, John Bell and Charles Vandevaart- travelled to Australia to participate in a convention called “Hublander”, which was held in both Sydney and Melbourne over the course of a weekend. (They were to have been joined by Australian actor David Berry, who portrays Lord John Gray, but sadly he succumbed to Covid two days before the event.) What follows is an account of the Sydney Hublander event, held at the University of New South Wales on February 24th.
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The day began by waiting in line! Queues formed for entry into the venue, followed by more queues to purchase photograph and autograph tokens. These were reasonably expensive, but most attendees opted to get at least one. After all, why pass up the opportunity to meet the stars up close? The lines moved swiftly; everyone was in good spirits and it wasn’t long before the doors opened and the official proceedings began.
Inside the venue, a brief welcome was given by the MC, along with an explanation of how the day would run. The morning session was given completely to the photographs and meet and greet sessions. This meant lots of sitting around, but episodes were playing on the large screens to keep everyone entertained. When the photos were taken, it was a very streamlined process. There was time for a quick hello, but no lengthy conversations and everyone had been told not to ask for hugs due to Covid risks. Although the whole experience was over and done with in seconds, it was nevertheless memorable! The stars were friendly and happily made brief small talk. Photos were printed quickly and placed on tables outside the venue for collection. Once all the photos were taken, a short lunch break was taken.
The afternoon session was devoted to the guest panels. Each panel was introduced with a video montage of the characters, but with modern music replacing the usual celtic orchestration. A covid positive David Berry had also recorded a special message, apologising for his absence. Furthermore, he had gone to the trouble of autographing hundreds of photographs as compensation for his non-attendance - a lovely gesture when he was feeling ill.
The panel sessions began with Charles Vandevaart, aka William Ransom. Self deprecating, the youngest of the group and obviously the least experienced, Charles seemed nervous at first, but warmed up as time went on. It was a shame that Covid had meant that he was without David Berry to bounce off, as had been originally planned. Charles spoke of feeling a bit lonely when he first arrived on the Outlander set, but commented that everyone had been very welcoming. When asked if he had read Diana Gabaldon’s novels, Charles replied that he had only read Echo in the Bone, but that his mum had read all of the books and had told him that he needed to get the part! He remembered that he was sent to New York to audition, but said that all that had happened was that he got his eyebrows plucked! (It must have made all the difference however, as the next day he travelled to Scotland!)
It was surprising to hear that Charles is not a huge fan of his character. He also remarked that he didn’t see a lot of himself in William’s personality. When it came to physical resemblances, Charles felt that he looked a bit like the actress who played Geneva Dunsany, but more like David Berry than Sam.
As questions continued to come from the audience, Charles had trouble with his left and right when trying to locate the people asking the questions! He good-naturedly teased himself about this fact. He said that one of his high school teachers had told him that he was someone who needed to let things simmer before he answered questions and he used this story as an excuse when he couldn’t immediately think of a response to any given topic.
Charles also shared some information about filming in general. He was asked about a typical shooting day and replied that there was no such thing as a “typical” day. Sometimes he would be on set for half an hour, with the longest time being 21 hours. Charles spoke about the performance rules in Scotland which stipulate that actors be given an 8 hour break between calls on a show, to allow for adequate sleep. He recalled that he once started work on a new show the day after a night shoot. Because they were different shows, the 8 hour break didn’t apply - but fortunately he was playing a paralysed character, so he could lie in bed!
At the end of the panel, Charles was presented with a plain white t-shirt, which he was invited to decorate in some way, before it was auctioned off to a member of the audience. Dubbed the “Shirt off your back" auction, all money raised was in aid of a friend of the convention’s organisers, who had been mauled by a dog and was faced with life altering injuries. Charles wrote Left and Right using the L and backwards L symbols and the shirt raised over $1000.
After a short break, the next two guests were announced and John Bell (Young Ian) and Duncan Lacroix (Murtagh) strode confidently onto the stage. By contrast to the shy Charles Vandevaart, these two were very comfortable with the panel experience and bounced off each other the whole time. (John Bell in particular was very playful and sassy!) Duncan remarked that it was his first time to Australia, whereas it was John Bell’s second. John said that he liked the country more this time around because he was old enough to drink! He added that he hadn’t realised that it was Mardi Gras, or he would have arranged to stay longer. He had brought his Nan with him on the trip and was taking her to the Northern Territory after the conventions were over.
Both actors were asked to nominate the hardest physical and mental scenes that they had filmed during their time on the show. John said that the hardest physical scene was running the gauntlet during season four, while the hardest mental scene was the conversation young Ian had with Jamie about his sexual assault at the hands of Geillis Duncan.
For Duncan, both scenes came from the first season. His physical challenge was the shinty game, whereas the mental challenge was the conversation in Gaelic with Jamie after Jamie had been rescued from Black Jack Randall’s torture. He also spoke of the emotions of his final day as Murtagh and how it had crept up on him. He hadn’t expected it to be as intense as it was. An added complication had been the sticky sugar blood pack that he was wearing during his final scene. It turned out that they had been filming near a wasp’s nest, which he hadn’t realised until the wasps started being attracted to the blood pack!
When asked which character they would like to be if not their own, John opted for Claire, while Duncan chose either Colum MacKenzie or Ned Gowan. Another question concerned how the two actors got into character and whether they used a specific item to help them. Neither man mentioned an item, but both spoke of the realism of the sets and how that helped create the atmosphere and mood that they needed to become their characters.
As the panel drew towards its conclusion, each actor was asked an individual question. Duncan was asked what he had taken from the set. He replied that he took the piece of tartan and also his wanted poster.
Meanwhile, John was asked about friendships with other actors on the show. He
spoke of his relationship with Izzy (who plays Rachel) and how they had immediately felt safe with each other. He also talked about the character of Rollo, Young Ian’s dog. When Rollo was first introduced, he was only a pup played by a young dog called Dui. The two of them had formed a strong bond, but as Dui grew, he developed joint problems and had to be replaced. His replacement was, in John’s words, “more aloof.”
White t-shirts were once again presented at the end of the panel. John wrote “John’s Bitch” and made a show of flossing his shirt, which ended up raising $550.
Duncan showed off his artistic talents and drew an elaborate caricature of Murtagh wearing his trademark tam with the phrase “Always Take a Murtagh” plus his signature. This shirt raised $3000.
There was no denying that the most anticipated panel of the day was Sam Heughan’s. He came out on stage accompanied by his agent, Steve Himber. He was immediately very personable and totally at ease, as he walked around the stage - indeed, he didn’t sit down often! He said how much he loved Australia and mentioned two famous Australian foods - Vegemite and Tim Tam biscuits. He didn’t like Vegemite, preferring the British equivalent Marmite, and he hadn’t yet tried a Tim Tam. He talked about his passion for whisky and gin making and remarked that if he wasn’t acting, maybe that’s what he might want to do as a career. Mentioning his charity My Peak Challenge he was clearly proud of the fact that MPC has raised over 7 million dollars for various causes.
Next, Sam was asked if he did his own stunts and he confirmed that he did. The one that was the most fun on Outlander was the explosion of the big house, when he and co-star Caitriona Balfe had to leap onto crash mats. The problem was that the first time they filmed the scene they were obviously laughing, so had to redo it.
Questions then turned to other film projects. Sam confirmed that he had auditioned for the character of James Bond in the past, but had heard nothing. When speaking about the movie Love Again Sam mentioned the limitations caused by Covid. He and his leading lady could only be together for 45 minutes at a time with the windows open. Scenes with co-star Celine Dion were actually done with CGI, due to the threat that Covid posed to Miss Dion’s health. Sam filmed the scenes with another actress and Celine‘s face was then superimposed. In another concert scene, there was only 1 actual actor per row, with the remainder of the crowd added with CGI. The film’s final scene was meant to take place at Celine’s concert, but that too had to be changed due to her health.
When asked for his secret dance moves, Sam replied that he was a terrible dancer, but did do an impromptu Scottish dance with Steve. This led to questions about the Scottish landscape. In Sam’s opinion, the Great Western Way and Ben Nevis took the honours for the best hikes. As for must visit places, Sam’s picks were Edinburgh and a trip to Midhope Castle, home to the fictional “Lallybroch”.
So what was Sam looking forward to after Outlander filming concluded? He replied that he was keen to expand his spirits business and do some personal travel, including Mount Everest, but he acknowledged that it would be very emotional when Outlander finally came to an end.
In the final few moments of the panel, Sam’s agent spotted a cute baby in the crowd and made the mother’s day by asking Sam to cuddle the child. When the
Shirt off your Back white t-shirt was presented, Sam drew a six pack and a kilt on the front and the phrase “JAMMF ❤️ ———-“ on the back, promising to put the winner’s name there. Frenzied bidding ensued and the shirt ended up selling for $5000, which Sam said he would match.
All of the guests then came onto the stage for a final bow. With the panels over, the autograph sessions began. For those with autograph tokens, it was time to form more queues, while everyone else was free to leave - clutching photographs and buzzing with the thrill of being up close and personal with the stars!
This review was written by Susie Brown, a teacher librarian and writer who lives in Australia. She was thrilled to finally be able to attend an Outlander event in her home country - particularly when Sam Heughan complimented her on her choice of shirt!
