“Outlander: Blood of My Blood” stars reflect on special bond between Brian, Ellen, and Julia
- - “Outlander: Blood of My Blood” stars reflect on special bond between Brian, Ellen, and Julia
Maureen Lee LenkerAugust 24, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Jamie Roy, Hermione Corfield, Sara Vickers
This article contains spoilers about Outlander: Blood of My Blood season 1, episode 4, "A Soldier's Heart."
There's always been an element of fate to the love story between Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire Fraser (Caitriona Balfe).
But it turns out their lives were far more intertwined, even years before they ever met, than we could've guessed. On Outlander: Blood of My Blood, Claire's parents, Julia (Hermione Corfield) and Henry (Jeremy Irvine), are directly involved in the romance between Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) and Brian Fraser (Jamie Roy), Jamie's parents.
Henry is something of an obstacle currently, given his role in brokering Ellen's marriage to Malcolm Grant (Jhon Lumsden). But Julia is essential to their unfolding forbidden romance. As a servant in the home of Lord Lovat (Tony Curran), Julia has become quite close with Brian, particularly after he took a beating for her following her failed escape attempt in episode 2.
Jamie Roy and Rory Alexander in 'Outlander: Blood of my Blood'
Roy says that's a reflection of Brian's character more than anything, but it lays the groundwork for their friendship. "Brian, at his core, has a really strong sense of duty and of knowing what is right and wrong," Roy tells Entertainment Weekly. "It's a lot of his upbringing because he's got these two parents, one who clearly cares from his mom, Davina, who taught him love and respect. And then he has his father who's the worst human on earth who he has to live with.
"He sees everything that he doesn't want to be in a man in his father," Roy continues. "So when Brian sees Julia in this precarious position where she's going to get beaten, of course there's no question for him to step in and protect her because that's how his mom has raised him."
In episode 4, Julia returns the favor, serving as a messenger and go-between for Brian and Ellen. Brian agrees to help her try to escape Lovat's household if she will go to Ellen at Castle Leoch and bring her a message.
Julia agrees, sneaking into Ellen's rooms and telling her that Brian is at Leoch and wants to meet with her. Ellen says she cannot because of how closely she is being watched. The two speak of the mysterious standing stones and the pain of being separated from your true love. There's a clear rapport between them, even if their time together is brief.
"She's a fundamental part of them being able to communicate and see each other," says Corfield of her role in the Brian-Ellen relationship.
Hermione Corfield as Julia Moriston in 'Outlander: Blood of my Blood'
But Corfield also hopes we'll get to see more between the two ladies as the show continues. "They live in different houses," she muses. "They're both women that do not have a huge amount of control over where they're supposed to be. But I hope as the story progresses, they will spend more time together, and I think there is opportunity for that."
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As for Brian and Julia, Corfield teases that the two will become like siblings to each other. "She becomes an older sister to him," she says. "Not because she's older than him, but she's got more life experience. She's pregnant with a second child; she's got a daughter; she's done married life. So, she sees him as a younger brother, and she wants to play a role in helping him to find the sort of love that she's managed to find."
New episodes of Outlander: Blood of My Blood air on Fridays at 8 p.m. on Starz. They're available to stream on the Starz app the same day.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
