Outlander interview: Joey Phillips, Izzy Meikle-Small on the Hunters
So what was it like for these two characters coming into this extended family? During the show’s recent press day, we chatted about their experiences, the stories for their characters, and how they tie into the central narrative all around them. We should note that even during the course of this interview, the bond that they shared was very much clear.
Matt & Jess – Let’s go back to your very first day filming in Scotland. What’s the experience like? What’s the vibe?
Meikle-Small – We were maybe a little bit nervous; that was probably our vibe. But, very excited to be there! Everyone on set had huge smiles and were super-welcoming. They were all giving us hugs — with masks, obviously — and was trying to make us feel really comfortable.
Phillips – It gets said a lot about Outlander that it is a family, but it really is. We felt that from day one. We felt taken in to this amazing bunch of talented people. We slotted in right away.
And you both also have this incredible challenge in that the two of you are playing family members! How did you build up that bond in such a short period of time?
Phillips – It’s been hard since we actually hate each other (laughs).
Meikle-Small – We just got really lucky in that from the moment we first met each other, we really clicked. We met for a drink before our first day of shooting, and I was nervous because I was going to spend a lot of time with this person. We got on so well! We were only going to meet for like an hour, but we ended up talking for like four hours.
Phillips – It’s so easy and familiar already. It made it that much easier to show that relationship on-screen.
For those out there who aren’t super-familiar with these characters from the books, what can you say about them?
Phillips – Rachel and Denzell are quakers, and they have been raised in the middle of nowhere. The only friends they really had throughout their lives were each other. He’s been like a parent and a brother to her — he’s been very protective.
We find them at a real turning point in their lives. Denny wants to join the continental army as a surgeon; he wants to fight for independence because he thinks that liberty is a gift from God. Their world is then thrown upside down and Rachel comes with him. Their world is suddenly surrounded by violence and war and death and everything that their lives were not.
Meikle-Small – They are thrown into the fire.
Phillips – We see them navigate the new lives that they have and the relationships that they have with characters. It’s a really great storyline and they both go on a real journey. There’s a real journey with where they go from beginning to end, and it’s been really fun to play.
You mention in there that these are two people who go from relatively simple lives to dealing with so much! How do these characters handle taking in all of this?
Meikle-Small – I think we go through periods of dealing with it better, and then less well. It’s a lot to take in. Being surrounded by so much violence, it goes against everything that we believe in. It’s really tricky. Rachel is drawn to these two men who are both soldiers, and they are also violent men. They’re having to question their faith a lot and realize that things aren’t black and white. It brings up a lot of stuff and they have to kind of reconcile all of this, while also being at war.
There’s a lot going on with them internally, and it is a really interesting conflict to play with.
How quickly do these characters interact with some people who us Outlander viewers are already familiar with?
Meikle-Small – Well, you meet the Hunters because they are interacting with some existing characters. We can’t say who, but we are very much thrown into the story. It’s a very dramatic entrance — the introduction to the characters is immediate and we’re immediately doing something intense and high-stakes. You don’t really get to see the characters truly in that moment because they are in survival mode.
Through the rest of [this] episode, you get to see them more as themselves. It’s a little more of a slow-burn.
Phillips – Definitely. That’s what is so lovely about our storyline. You really get a sense of the relationships that they form with characters that everyone knows and loves. You get to see how those relationships flourish.
Related – Check out our interview with Maril Davis setting the stage for what lies ahead
What do you most want to see for Rachel and Denzell across Outlander season 7?
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(Photo: Starz.)