Nell Hudson stepped into the shoes of scandalous 18th century teenager Laoghaire MacKenzie in “Outlander” last weekend.
In Episode 2, “Castle Leoch,” Laoghaire was dragged in front of Highlander clan leader Colum MacKenzie (Gary Lewis), and accused of inappropriate behavior by her father. It was Sam Heughan’s Jamie McTavish who stepped up to secure the young lass’ future reputation by volunteering to take the teen’s punishment himself.
“I mean he does step in, but I think that’s about justice as well,” Sam told AccessHollywood.com of the moment. “I think he’s been through that whole thing and look what happened to him. And I just think he’s a man of morals and very strong minded about these things.”
WATCH: Sam Heughan & Caitriona Balfe On Jamie & Claire’s Big ‘Outlander’ Moment
Jamie’s actions helped cement Laoghaire’s crush in the strapping young man. In this coming Saturday’s episode, which AccessHollywood.com has an exclusive sneak peek photo from, Jamie and Laoghaire get very close.
(Jamie and Laoghaire! | Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Television/Starz)
For fans invested in the relationship between Jamie and Claire (Caitriona Balfe), Laoghaire (especially in that photo) is a romantic impediment.
Nell, whose “Outlander” role is her first major television gig, said she found out how polarizing her character is to the large fan base of Diana Gabaldon’s books, when she popped online after her casting was revealed last year.
“I went on the ‘Outlander’ Facebook page — this is when I kind of first got a sense of what people thought about Laoghaire, because I went on the ‘Outlander’ Facebook page and found this picture of myself, and there were all these comments and a lot of them were great. A lot of them were like, ‘Oh, she’s perfect for Laoghaire. She looks great for that role,’ and then you scroll down through the comments and you start to get the hate ones,” Nell said with a laugh, during a recent interview with Access.
But, Nell said she was able to distance herself from the less kind posts.
“To be honest, it’s just so kind of removed, and you know, it’s about the character, it’s not about me,” she said. “It was just quite funny.”
WATCH: Nell Hudson On Landing Laoghaire Role In ‘Outlander’
The English actress landed the part in the Starz and Sony Pictures Television series a little more than a year after graduating from The Oxford School of Drama in 2012. And she told Access she had a feeling things went from the moment she finished her audition.
“It was pretty exciting. … When the audition goes well, you kind of come out with a feeling. And so that feeling had been staying with me. I found out, I think two days afterward, that I’d got it and for that entire two days, I had this kind of butterfly excitement feeling,” Nell said. “When I got the job, it confirmed that feeling, that excitement that I’d been feeling for like two days. It was just like, ‘Yes! I knew it.’ And so it was amazing. It was an incredible feeling.”
The actress said she held off on a big celebration until she went up to begin work on the series.
“I didn’t really celebrate until I’d kind of actually been up to Scotland for the first time and it really felt real,” she explained. “I found out that I got the job in August, but I didn’t start shooting until October, so for that couple of months, it was weird ’cause I knew I had it, but it wasn’t real yet kind of thing.”
“Outlander” airs Saturdays at 9 PM on Starz.
— Jolie Lash
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