Rory Alexander admits he nearly skipped watching Outlander before stepping into the role of Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser in Starz’s new prequel, Blood of My Blood. The character, so beloved by fans of the original series that producers deviated from Diana Gabaldon’s path for him, carries significant expectations.
(Light spoilers ahead for episode five and beyond.)
Rory Alexander as Young Murtagh at the Great Gathering in the series premiere. Sanne Gault – STARZ
“I frantically watched a couple episodes before doing the audition,” Alexander tells Town & Country. But once cast, producers advised him to stop. “They basically said, don’t watch it because you, this isn’t about reenacting something. You are kind of meant to be doing something new.”
That direction allowed him to avoid imitating Duncan Lacroix’s portrayal in the original Outlander series. “Whatever Duncan built his character from, it’s the same thing that I’m building mine from,” Alexander said. “It just means that I’m not fixated on what he does with his eyebrows.”
Alexander with Sally Messham as Mrs. Fitz, Murtagh’s aunt, at the Great Gathering. STARZ
Taking on a figure so tied to the original story brought pressure, but Alexander welcomes it. “Pressure is good, and I think there should always be pressure, whatever it is,” he says. “I will never be able to please everybody. So I guess the trick…is just to bring myself to it and do as best I can.”
Murtagh’s position within the Fraser family adds another layer. “He is associated with the Frasers and he kind of has to do what love asks him and show his loyalty there. But he is also an outsider,” Alexander says. That status, he noted, shaped his choices and gave him freedom while also carrying consequences.
Brian Fraser (played by Jamie Roy) and Murtagh are as thick as thieves as the show opens. Sanne Gault – STARZ
At any point in time, Murtagh never seems to be far from trouble. In his youth, it’s his heart that leads him directly to it. At the Beltane Festival in episode five, Murtagh finally gives into his feelings for Ellen MacKenzie (Harriet Slater) whose hand is spoken for by Malcolm Grant, the son of a very powerful laird. Even though it’s a bit of a game to put one’s name in the ring to stand beside the May Queen, it’s still perceived as a great risk.
“He’s sat there and he’s thought it through,” Alexander says, “Then there’s just a moment where she has stood alone and there’s no one in front of her. It’s kind of a moment that he’s dreamed of. So he finally takes that risk even though he knows that it’s not gonna work.”
Murtagh and Jocasta first meet at the Great Gathering, a meeting to choose a new laird for Clan MacKenzie, in the series premiere. Sanne Gault – STARZ
Alexander says one of his most challenging scenes came opposite Jocasta Cameron (Sadhbh Malin), Ellen’s older sister, in episode five. Longtime Outlander viewers will know how their lives will be intertwined in their twilight years in the American colonies many years later, so their scenes together here carry significant weight—especially when they kiss, and Murtagh mortifyingly utters Ellen’s name instead of Jocasta’s.
“He is at his most vulnerable and there’s this facade of being drunk, which is helpful and it kind of allows him a bit more freedom and his guard is down, but it’s heartbreaking,” Alexander says. “Still, acting with Sadhbh is so fun. It felt like for a moment that we were the love story.”
Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs Fridays on Starz at 8 p.m.
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