Sassenachs? We are now just a few weeks away from the 2026 TV schedule delivering not just an end to another long Droughtlander, but the last one we’ll experience (for the main series, anyway), as Outlander Season 8 will begin the show’s final run on March 6. Though I had always assumed that working on the long-running series was probably incredibly intense, after hearing how star Caitríona Balfe talks about the experience of being in that “bubble” while filming, I’m really appreciating my PTO way more!
What Did Caitríona Balfe Say About Being In The Outlander Bubble While Working On The Show?
Fans who’ve followed along with the adventures of Claire and Jamie over the years could still be fuzzy on some things about Outlander. We’re all wondering, for instance, how the action-packed romantic drama will wrap up, still have questions about how Outlander’s time travel really works, and desperately want to know what’s the deal with “ghost” Jamie from the pilot. However, one thing we do know is that the cast and crew pretty much adore each other.
Caitríona Balfe and many of the show’s other stars have spoken a lot about the “camaraderie” they formed while filming in Scotland for so many years, and how they all knew they’d miss each other once the series was done. While speaking on the She’s A Rec podcast recently with host and Outlander co-star Lauren Lyle (who’ll return as Marsali in Season 8), the Belfast talent noted that filming the series meant being in a “bubble” which included their “very strong, tight-knit group.” But, she also opened up about the sheer intensity of filming, and I kinda want to take a nap just hearing about it! Balfe said:
We would film, sometimes, for a calendar year; a short season would be like 10, 11 months. There were one or two seasons where my character wasn’t crazy time wise, but I would be in [scenes] all the time. So, you’re working a 70 hour week minimum, sometimes an 80 hour week. For a long time you’re just sort of surviving. And a lot of the time if you’re not on the show, then you would be promoting the show.
Woooooo, boy! I realize that there are a lot of people who work incredibly long hours, so whenever I hear stories like this is makes me so glad I'm not in the 80-hr-workweek camp. A lot of people’s first instinct when hearing about the unbelievable amount of time that went into making the romance would likely be to note how Balfe and her co-star, Sam Heughan, were simply acting on a TV show and not digging ditches or attempting to save lives that whole time.
While that’s accurate, let’s remember that they had to spend hours in wigs and period costumes, while enduring lots of time running, screaming, and stressed out from Claire and Jamie’s on-screen trauma and, you know, away from their families and friends on top of it. I totally get the idea that this would lead to the stars “just sort of surviving,” while filming, especially during those first few seasons while they adjusted to what Heughan previously called the “pretty tough, pretty full on” routine.
Luckily, having all of the past year to relax a bit has helped Balfe. While she did say that she basically feels like a different person from the one she was when the drama began, she also admitted that she’s now feeling “probably more similar to that person who started.” As she put it:
Occasionally I would do jobs between seasons, but not very often, so this year I’ve taken a real break. I’ve done a few jobs, but they haven’t been as time consuming. It’s just been like, ‘Oh, this is what it’s like to be a human again.’ It’s great. I feel very centered, whatever that means.
Feeling “centered” is always a plus, and it’s almost sure to help her through the next rounds of press and realizing that her work on Outlander is finally, completely done.
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