NEED TO KNOW
Rory Alexander learned sometimes you need to be careful what you’re reading on the train.
Speaking to PEOPLE at the premiere of Outlander: Blood of My Blood at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles on July 28, Alexander reveals he received a stern warning from his agent for reading the Outlander books while taking the train.
“You’ve got to be careful because people know that something’s in the pipeline, and if the people see you reading Outlander on the tube, someone might put two and two together,” Alexander recalls being told by his agent.
Despite his agent’s concerns, Alexander wasn’t too worried about his reading habits. He shares, “I said I think that’s a bit of a stretch. I mean there’s plenty of guys with long curly hair who read Outlander that don’t all happen to be in the prequel.”
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Alexander’s train reading was part of his preparation for his role as a younger version of Murtagh Fitzgibbons, played in the original series by Duncan Lacroix, in the highly anticipated prequel series.
Prior to landing the role, the actor had never read the books that Outlander is based on, but he quickly became a fan.
“I got through there pretty quickly. Diana [Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series] did a great job with those,” he says of the series.
Sanne Gault/Starz
The Outlander series includes nine books so far, with the tenth being planned as the end of Jamie and Claire’s story.
Starting with Outlander in 1991, the series follows Claire Randall, a World War II nurse, who is flung back in time to 18th-century Scotland, where she meets and marries Jamie Fraser. Together, the pair deal with the ongoing Jacobite rising and eventually move to North Carolina, just ahead of the American Revolution.
The novels were adapted into a TV show by STARZ in 2014. Outlander — starring Sam Heughan and Caitríona Balfe — has run for seven seasons, with an eight and final season on the way. It will based off the ninth novel in the book franchise, Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone.
“For nearly a decade Outlander has won the hearts of audiences worldwide and we’re pleased to bring Claire and Jamie’s epic love story to a proper conclusion,” Kathryn Busby, president of original programming for STARZ said in a statement in January 2023.
With both the novels and TV show set to conclude, STARZ began work on Outlander: Blood of My Blood.
The prequel series will “explore the lives and relationship of Claire’s parents, Julia Moriston (Hermione Corfield) and Henry Beauchamp (Jeremy Irvine) and Jamie’s parents, Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy),” according to an official synopsis.
The series will tell “two parallel love stories set in two different time periods,” the description continues.
Six weeks before the debut of Outlander: Blood of My Blood, it was renewed for a second season.
“The passion and talent our cast and crew have poured into Outlander: Blood of my Blood has been extraordinary, and we’re thrilled to continue these epic love stories in season two,” showrunner and executive producer Matthew B. Roberts said in a statement in June, per The Hollywood Reporter. “Just as audiences fell in love with Jamie and Claire, we hope viewers will be enamored by these new couples when they meet them this summer.”
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The first two episodes of Outlander: Blood of My Blood premiere August 8 on STARZ.
