Outlander: Blood of My Blood – Harriet Slater and Jamie Roy reflect on Ellen and Brian’s forbidden love scene

A prequel to Outlander, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, is a historical romance drama series that is inspired by the book series by Diana Gabaldon. Developed by Matthew B. Roberts, Outlander: Blood of My Blood features Harriet Slater, Jamie Roy, Hermione Corfield, Jeremy Irvine, and others.

The show focuses on the love stories of the parents of Jamie Fraser and Claire Beauchamp, the protagonists of the original series. Jamie’s parents are in 18th-century Scotland and are played by Harriet Slater as Ellen MacKenzie and Jamie Roy as Brian Fraser. On the other hand, Claire’s parents are in the World War I period, and Hermione Corfield plays Julia Moriston and Jeremy Irvine plays Henry Beauchamp.

Outlander: Blood of My Blood has one season till now and it premiered on August 8, 2025, on Starz. Therefore, the show is about star-crossed lovers, and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, actors Harriet Slater and Jamie Roy talk about the romantic scene that their characters, Ellen and Brian, had to portray, while also fighting against rival Scottish clans and political intrigue.

Details about the natural chemistry between Ellen and Brian in Outlander: Blood of My Blood

Outlander: Blood of My Blood is a traditional tale about forbidden romance. In the show, Ellen has fallen in love with Brian, who is the illegitimate son of Lord Lovat and is a member of a rival clan. In the fifth episode of the show, an annual spring festival is going on in the background, and Ellen decides to take her relationship with Brian to the next level. In the interview with The Hollywood Reporter, actors Slater and Roy talk about their real-life chemistry as a groundwork for their characters and the intricacies of playing out intimate scenes.

“We had that trust. We were working off each other so well, and you said to me, “Can I do this?” I said, “Yes. Do you mind if I hold you here?” There was so much consent straight away, and I remember forgetting about everything else, and you were the only person that mattered in that moment,” Jamie Roy states when talking about the scenes that he and Harriet Slater worked on for a chemistry read.

When asked about whether the two actors had some conversations on where they wanted to take their characters, Roy states that, “honestly, a lot of trust was put into us to find it organically. Because the writing’s so great. As actors, when I’m reading it, I know exactly where our relationship goes. We find a really nice dynamic when we’re working together, and so far we haven’t been told, “Hey, you’re doing that wrong.”” Slater states that director Jamie Payne mentioned that the actors had been cast because of their chemistry and therefore, the job was a lot easier. “it meant that he didn’t have to edit it in a certain way that made it look like we had chemistry, because it was there already,” she states.

Harriet Slater and Jamie Roy talk about portraying love scenes in Outlander: Blood of My Blood

During the same interview, Slater and Roy are asked about how they deepened a sense of intimacy, and Slater states, “It’s there in the writing, but we worked with an intimacy coordinator to make sure that it built up and that we didn’t give too much too soon, because people just didn’t give away much back then.”

Coming to the forbidden romance in episode five of the show, where Ellen and Brian consummate their relationship, actors Roy and Slater talk about how they got ready for the scene.

“It was very important, when you do any of these sorts of scenes, that it is collaborative from the start…We were involved with the story from the get-go with storyboards. We got to see their ideas and have input… From there, it’s all about rehearsing a dance — how many beats we’re going to go for certain things, on what beats the hands are going to go. It’s all very technical…That’s why it’s so important to have that rehearsal process with people who are keeping you safe and everyone on track,” Roy states.

Further, Slater talks about the agency of women in such scenes and how Outlander: Blood of My Blood shows women pushing back against societal constraints. “The kiss…I don’t know if it made the final edit, but we decided that it would be Ellen who would lead Brian away to show that she was consenting and also that she really wanted it. I think that was really important to get across,” Slater comments.

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Outlander: Blood of My Blood is available on Starz.

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