‘Outlander’ cast on the “mixed feelings” they have about the show reaching its end

Jamie and Claire face unrelenting changes together when Outlander returns to Starz for its seventh season on Friday, June 16.

The cast dished to ABC Audio about the penultimate season of the popular show, which, Sophie Skelton says, they all assumed would be their last.

“I think the general consensus was that (season) 7 was going to be the last one,” Skelton said. “It’s just a bonus really, that we’re getting eight. And yeah, hopefully it just means that we get one last chance to sort of do these characters justice and tie up the beautiful stories.”

Sam Heughan says he has mixed emotions about the show’s story coming to its eventual end.

“We’re definitely really excited for the season. It’s a huge one. There’s a lot going on and there’s a lot more for the fans to look forward to,” Heughan said. “So, definitely mixed emotions. But yeah, plenty to look forward to before the end.”

And although they’re still promoting season 7, Caitriona Balfe is ready to get to work on that final season, where she will direct an episode.

“It’s something that I wanted to do for a while,” Balfe said. “To get the opportunity to work on this show with people that I love and respect and admire, it’s a real, real treat. So yeah, excited. Slightly nervous, but excited.”

With that excitement also comes some sadness. Balfe, like Heughan, says she has complicated feelings about the series coming to a close.

“The magnitude of what we’ve done and what’s going to be finishing, I think weighs heavily,” Balfe said. “It’s been such an amazing journey and it’s going to be really hard to just sort of let go of it.”