Outlander season 5: Caitriona Balfe, Sam Heughan reportedly producers
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Now, we’ve got some more official word on what that means. In a new interview featuring Balfe over at the Irish Times (very much worth the read), it’s noted that both she and Heughan are going to be producers for the upcoming fifth season. What exactly does this mean? For the same of this article, let’s outline that a little bit!
When it comes to the day-to-day operations of Outlander, the first thing worth noting here is that not all that much will change. The cast still goes to work every day and the writers still do their best in order to deliver great scripts. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the actors are in the writers’ room every day or hiring all of the crew.
Yet, what it does mean is that Balfe and Heughan are more involved in the creative direction of the story and have a little more say in what happens both on-screen and behind the scenes. They are not showrunners and may not have final say, but they will have more input than ever before. This is something that does often happen for long-running series at a certain point — if you look at many shows with runs longer than four or five seasons, then you will often see one or two actors listed as either producers or with some other titles. It’s a promotion that often comes about as a result of negotiations.
It also does make a good bit of sense that these titles are added. When you think about an actor’s role in the story long-term, they often know a significant amount about their character. They’ve been with them from the very beginning, often longer than many writer/producers have behind the scenes. That’s not entirely the case with Outlander given that there are many producers who have been around from the beginning and are still actively involved, but it is with some shows.
This promotion is just a way to give the series’ two leads a little bit more of an active voice in ensuring that the journeys of Jamie and Claire, alongside many other characters, are told in the strongest possible way. Maybe this could lead to some greater involvement behind the scenes, such as one of them eventually directing an episode, but we haven’t heard too much about that right now. It’ll be an enormous challenge if that happens, but we’re sure with the right knowledgebase, they could figure out a way to make it work.
Related News – Discussing the long-term future of Outlander, including our early thoughts on a season 7
What do you think about Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe reportedly being producers on Outlander season 5? Share now below. (Photo: Starz.)