Outlander‘s resident young lovers, played by the delightful Sophie Skelton and Richard Rankin, are in for quite the ride when the hit time-traveling romance returns for it’s fourth season. Jamie and Claire Frasier’s daughter Brianna and her own Scottish beau Roger become even more central to the story than ever before and with that, their sweet flirtation is taken up a few notches, to say the least. While chatting with Sophie and Richard for HollywoodLife’s podcast, the pair revealed just how their chemistry bloomed in the earlier seasons … and how it’s going to grow in the upcoming one!
“I think we had quite a lot of discussion about our ideas of Roger and Brianna, where we wanted to take them, where we wanted them to go,” Richard explained, talking about the early days of crafting the relationship of their characters. “Working with another actor who is very much on the same page as you and you can collaborate with, that’s instantly is going to bring chemistry to it as well. You’re there and you have the same idea of these characters. We really hit the ground running in that respect.” Sophie, of course, agreed. “With season four, we pick up with [Roger and Brianna] having what seems to be a long-distance phone relationship, but it’s quite ambiguous,” she explained. “It’s good for us to get our heads together and say, ‘Okay, what’s happened in this period of time? How often do they speak on the phone. Where are they at? Do they know how they feel about each other or are they sort of talking as friends?'”
Friends? No… Fans are hoping for much more than friendship to be blooming here, especially given their passionate, Christmas kiss in season 3. It’s clear the pair need each other, especially given that Bree had just watched as her mother Claire return to the past to reunite with her birth father, Jamie, leaving her quite alone. Sophie and Richard promise their character’s chemistry is not to be missed, but is also taken to a whole new level. “Brianna and Roger .. they’re both very guarded characters,” Sophie explained. “They don’t really say what they’re thinking very much, and that’s actually one of the downfalls of their relationship.” “That’s why Roger and Brianna have so much conflict with each other,” Richard added. “It’s just that they have their own flaws. It creates a lot of passion between the two of them … They bottle it up and then explode later.”
Explode? Hope that means like fireworks! Of course, if you’ve read the Outlander book series, you know exactly where things are headed for these two, as season four adapts Diana Gabaldon‘s Drums of Autumn novel. Still, whether you’ve savored every single word on the pages or are following along strictly with the series, this season is not to be missed! Outlander Season 4 will premiere on Sunday, November 4, 2018 at 8pm ET/PT.