You know who you are. You melt into a puddle of goo at the name “Jamie Fraser.” You want a tall red-haired Scot to call you Sassenach in a low, growly, I’m-taking-you-to-bed voice. If Jonathon Randall were standing in front of you, you’d gladly castrate him with your bare hands.
I know this is very preliminary, but it seems that a new production outfit is rolling out seven films…and one of them is Outlander!
I know ABC had an option a few years back for a mini-series but let it lapse. I’m a bit wary of a feature film, given the breadth of the book. I’d much rather see it as a 12-hour mini-series on HBO (the better to get a peek at Jamie’s bum!) I know she’s a bit long in the tooth, but I think Alex Kingston would make an excellent Claire…she’s got the hair, and to paraphrase Joey Tribbiani, has experience in medical acting.
So, we have a glimmer, let’s see if it materializes!
I like your idea for Alex Kingston as Claire. The hair is perfect. Now, we just need a good Jamie. Just please, Oh Gods of Hollywoodland, not Russell Crowe.
Not really a reply, but I have been dying to ask someone who likes these books this question: What’s with all the male rape scenes? I started reading this series and liked it, and finally had to quit after one male rape too many. Does she ever give those up? If so, I might pick up the series later on.
There’s only one, and it’s mostly recounted as Jamie tries to send Claire away. And since Jamie moves past it and eventually forgives Jonathon Randall, I think it’s just a sign of his character and how he helps Brianna, when she’s raped by Bonnet.
I’ll admit that when I finished Outlander, I thought that Jamie’s rape scene was over the top. I was worried that in the next book the author would write something even more sensationalist, and I was pleasantly surprised when she didn’t. There’s nothing quite as disturbing as that scene (to me, anyway) in the rest of the series, and the incident quite realistically affects Jamie for the rest of his life.
I’m afraid a movie won’t do the series justice. I’ve never seen any actor who makes me think of Jamie.
ivylass, you know there’s a graphic novel in production also? Although I’m not a fan of them - I want words in my books, not pictures.
Alex Kingston is 45. All I know is that they better freaking not cast Keira Knightley.
Romola Garai, perhaps? Kelly Macdonald… although she’s actually Scot not British she can probably do the accent considering her work in No Country for Old Men.
I’ve also read only one Lord John Grey book…while I like Lord John, reading those books just drives home how much I miss not reading about Jamie and Claire.
TroubleAgain - No, Claire is British, although after she comes back, she and her husband Frank move to Boston. Brianna is American.
I don’t think any movie version can do this series justice. Of course, look at the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. If we had a director who took that kind of care and respect for the source material, it might work.
Lord John is my favorite character after Jamie and Claire.
The newest book (LJ and the Brotherhood of the Blade) is better than the first one, and I’m really looking forward to her next one: Lord John and the Scottish Prisoner. It should explain what happened to make those men close friends, during the time skimmed over in Voyager, when Jamie’s son is very young. *Brotherhood *ended with a pretty vicious scene between them, not long after the child was born.
I can see Alicia Witt as Brianna. But I just can’t think of any actor who could play Jamie, but if you had to twist my arm and you dyed his hair red, I could be satisfied with Gerard Butler.
Ivylass - One issue will be the age differences between Jamie and Claire in the first book (about 21 and 26, as I recall) and the later stories when they’re 23 years older. Also, my idea of Brianna was a girl who is a female version of Jamie - 6’ tall, strong build. Most actresses would come off as too insubstantial.
It’ll be interesting to see. I was going to say Gerard Butler as Jamie too, he could dye his hair red. I wish “An Echo in the Bone”, the next book in the series was published already. There are some excerts from the book at the bottom of her page.
I’m a bit concerned about the budget, $10-40 million. That’s not a lot of money. If they make some sort of straight-to-video crap I’m going to hunt people down.
