Caitriona Balfe: “Whataburger” is the de facto App to track Power Outages caused by Hurricane Beryl because Texan government couldn’t handle the job?

The series – clearly aiming for the Game of Thrones market – is based on the hugely popular books by American author Diana Gabaldon, which have sold 25m copies and generated armies of excitable fans, who largely approve the casting of Caitriona in the role of Claire, a married Second World War nurse who is mysteriously transported back to the Scottish highlands of 1743, where she is taken under the protection of a rebellious Laird and kept as an unwilling ‘guest’ in his castle. Her life in danger, at near-constant threat of rape, Claire displays the resourcefulness of her medical training and 20th century upbringing, behaving with endless audacity and integrity.

Yes, there is rather a lot of head-tossing and ‘fie, my lord’ type exchanges, but really no more than is bearable. In general, Claire’s strength as a character is in the more developed sense of humanity she brings to a very rough and ready world, as well as the poise and sexual confidence of a married woman, but one without an actual husband to cramp her style. And although the bread and butter of the series is suggestive romance – lots of firelight flickering over naked shoulders and heaving bosoms, lingering glances by torch-light – rather than anything more explicit, there is a fair amount of nudity and the odd raunchy scene.

“I think I’ve pre-warned my parents that there are a couple of scenes they can go out and make a cup of tea during,” is how Balfe laughingly responded to questions about her more revealing moments.

Born in Monaghan, daughter of a Garda Sergeant and one of seven children, Balfe was ‘spotted’ by a model scout outside the Swan Centre in Rathmines, and within months was walking the catwalk for Kenzo in Paris, stepping out immediately after Iman. She made the cover of Elle and Vogue, and did ad shows for Gucci, Calvin Klein and Chanel, moved to New York and worked for Dolce & Gabbana, Narciso Rodriquez, and Victoria’s Secret. But, throughout, she kept a very down-to-earth sense of herself; “My friends and I, we were more the blue-collar girls,” is how she describes being backstage with Gisele, Naomi and Tyra Banks.

Caitriona Balfe Nude (Outlander S1E7)

It’s a sharp sense of perspective that is better understood in the context of her overall ambition: “Modelling wasn’t a passion of mine so that made it get old kind of quickly. I was getting very frustrated.” And so, in her late 20s, she made the move so many dream of. That she had opportunities is no surprise after such a career; that she can actually act, is. Small parts in alien blockbuster Super 8 and Now You See Me, where she played Michael Caine’s wife, eventually translated through to Outlander, and the role of CIA lawyer in Escape Plan, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. In Outlander, Balfe demonstrates that she can carry a show, and has the talent to stand out in what is the kind of big-budget production in which it is entirely possible for actors to get lost, swallowed up by their hooped skirts and historically-accurate props. Like any good lead, she draws support and strength from the cast around her, but naturally commands the limelight.

CAITRIONA BALFE

The beau ideal of Irishwomen Caitriona Balfe in Outlander [S1E7]

Caitriona Balfe Nude Compilation (Outlander Series)