Outlander fans have been dying to know who will round out the season 2 casting, and now the wait is finally over.
If you don’t follow the Outlander book series, you’ll probably want to stop reading after this paragraph, or you are going to hit some major spoilers. Suffice it to say that Sophie Skelton has been cast in the pivotal role of Brianna. The casting of season 2 of Outlander is now complete (see our Outlander season 2 casting guide here).
Skelton is a relatively unknown actress to most American fans, but clearly she won’t remain unknown for long. Skelton’s Twitter followers are going up a a breakneck pace.
So excited to be joining the #Outlander team and be working with Cait, Sam and Richard!
— Sophie Skelton (@SkeltonSophie) January 28, 2016
As book readers are well aware, Brianna Randall is the daughter of Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) and Claire Randall Fraser (Caitriona Balfe). Brianna grows up thinking that Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies), Claire’s first husband, is her father, and only learns of her mother’s time travelling escapades when she is roughly 20-years-old.
The wait is over! Meet Sophie Skelton (@skeltonsophie), who will be playing our beloved Brianna. #Outlander pic.twitter.com/SqcjUvqAzm
— Outlander (@Outlander_Starz) January 28, 2016
Skelton has done guest starring stints on long-running British TV series such as Waterloo Road, DCI Banks, Doctors, and Casualty. British viewers will mostly likely recognize her from her role in So Awkward, where she played Sofia Matthews. Skelton has an impressive range judging by her acting reel seen below.
Outlander is filming the final installments for season 2 right now. The series will return on an as of yet unnamed date in April. It will be interesting to see if the series mimics the novels in having Brianna and Roger appear in the beginning and the end of the season, but not in between. For TV audiences it may work better to see flashbacks and flashforwards as Claire tells her tale to Roger and Brianna. A third possibility is a completely linear story going from 1743 or so and ending up in 1968.