Outlander star Jessica Reynolds reveals heartbreaking detail behind filming death scene
Outlander star Jessica Reynolds joined HELLO! for the latest episode of Outlander Insider, where she chatted all about episode six where, and spoiler alert ahead for those who have yet to tune in, Claire finds Malva murdered in the Fraser family’s garden, and unsuccessfully attempts to save her unborn baby’s life. Jessica opened up about the scene, and revealed why it was particularly emotional for her co-star, Caitriona Balfe.
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She said: "It was one of the only times that I really felt said in the moment. Obviously I’m playing dead but I felt the gravity and the weight of the plot lines. In the other scenes, Malva’s observing so much, or crying, or people-pleasing, but in this… she’s dead!
WATCH: Check out of full chat with Jessica here!
"It was more like me as the actor observing Caitriona do her work right above me. Obviously I know it’s not a real baby, but you have that suspended belief when someone with that raw emotion stood over you. It was a marvel to watch Catriona, someone of that standard, show her work like that. It was incredible."
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Speaking about why the scene was so "intense" for Caitriona, she added: "She was pregnant at the time so I can’t imagine, I’m sure she just taps straight into that, but it was really intense. I swear we only did one take, maybe two, and it was like, 'Whoa, I’m going to cry here. But I can’t, because I’m dead!’
"It was easy for me, everyone was making a fuss over me, I was just lying there, it was a sunny day!"
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Fans were understandably horrified by the graphic scene, but it sounds like costume department went to a lot of trouble to make it as safe as possible for the stars! Speaking about how they filmed the scene where Claire performs surgery on Malva, Jessica explained: "[The blood] was very sticky, it didn’t take that long because it was a prosthetic that they filled in with makeup and sticky sticky bloody.
Jessica went into details over how they filmed the scene
"We had these bodices too, Cat had to cut through them and we couldn’t use a real knife, so my laces were glued together, cut already, so when Cat cut through it would happen instantly. They must have had five copies of those bodices because it was pernickety, and we had a doctor onset to keep Cat right."
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