Rueben's Ramblings

Actor Craig McGinlay has landed a role in Season 4 of Outlander. He will play Andrew MacNeil, a plantation owner near the Cape Fear River and a prominent member of the Scottish community where Jamie and Claire end up living now that they are in America.

McGinlay has appeared in the box office film King Arthur: Knights of the Round Table and the History Channel series Knightfall.

The fourth season of Outlander is being filmed currently, but an official premiere date has yet to be set by Starz. It is believed the show will return with new episodes later this year, though.

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Outlander Fans!!

Two more casting announcements have been made for the much-anticipated season 3 of the Starz drama based on the Diana Gabaldon series of books.

New Zealand actor Gary Young will play Mr. Willoughby, a Chinese man with a deep knowledge of Eastern medicine is a talented poet in exile, with an even deeper love of women. He is a confidante of Jamie Fraser (series lead Sam Heughan), speaks English well, but hides it when it suits him. He is even more of an outsider than Claire in 18th century Scotland.

Newcomer Charlie Hiett will portray British Captain Thomas Leonard, the inexperienced, by-the-book de facto captain of the Artemis. Promoted quickly due to the untimely deaths of his commanding officers, Leonard takes his job very seriously, though it weighs heavily on his young shoulders. A third lieutenant, he never thought he would be the captain of a man-of-war ship. Above all, he wants to do what is right by the British Navy — whether or not it is right by his own personal morals.

An official airdate has yet to be announced for the third season of Outlander by Starz.

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Lauren Lyle

Outlander is adding more cast for season 3 in the form of three new young actresses. One casting announcement from last month and two from earlier this week.

First, last month’s casting announcement was for British newcomer Lauren Lyle who will play Marsali, the 18-year-old daughter of Laoghaire (Nell Hudson), who – in the third book on which the show will be based – has a “rebellious and romantic mind of her own. She knows what she wants and she goes after it — reputation and propriety be damned.”

Book readers will know that Marsali plays a prominent part in the life of adult Fergus, the adopted son of Jamie and Claire Fraser.

Tanya Reynolds (left) and Hannah James (right)

The casting announcements from earlier this week are for the Dunsany sisters, who play an important part in Jamie’s life – sans Claire – but I won’t spoil the exact specifics.

Actress Hannah James (Mercy Street) will play Geneva Dunsany while newcomer Tanya Reynolds will play younger sister Isobel Dunsany. Geneva is described as “beautiful (and) headstrong; spoiled and demanding. She’s used to getting exactly what she wants, but underneath that petulant exterior she’s vulnerable due to her sheltered life.” Isobel is described as “warm, friendly and genuine. She’s more likable and compassionate towards others, the opposite of her sister.”

Outlander has yet to be given an official airdate by Starz, but it is anticipated to air sometime in early 2017.

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Another casting announcement has been made for season 3 of Outlander.

Scottish actor Conor McCarry will play the adult version of Young Jamie, the oldest son of Jenny and Ian Murray. As fans know, Jenny is the sister of Jamie Fraser (series lead Sam Heughan) and Young Jamie is, of course, his uncle’s namesake. Young Jamie is also the heir of Lallybroch.

What happens with adult Young Jamie will depend on what direction season 3 of the show takes in comparison to the book “Voyager” on which the season will be based. Very few specific details are being released by Starz, naturally.

Conor has appeared in the films Anna Karenina and Battleship; and he had a role in the TV mini-series The Night Manager, which ironically included among its cast Tobias Menzies, who appears as Frank Randall and his 18th Century counterpart Black Jack Randall.

An official airdate has yet to be announced by Starz for season 3 of Outlander, but it is anticipated to air sometime in early 2017.

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It was announced earlier today that two pivotal roles for the upcoming third season of Outlander were filled.

First, young actor John Bell (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) will play Young Ian Murray, the nephew of Jamie Fraser (series lead Sam Heughan).

Young Ian is a tall, gangly Scottish lad with a heart of gold, a stubborn streak and a penchant for getting into trouble. Bursting with charm, he’s more like his adventurous, fierce uncle Jamie than his farmer father Ian — but when we meet him, he is still a very gawky boy. However, he keeps trying to prove that he is a man and we will see him grow into quite a formidable one as the series evolves.

And, actor Wil Johnson (Waking the Dead) will play Joe Abernathy, the friend and medical colleague of Claire Randall (series lead Caitriona Balfe).

Joe is a fellow doctor-in-training whom Claire befriends in medical school. Intelligent, charismatic, with a wry and irreverent sense of humor, Joe is a loyal confidant with great affection for Claire. He puts on a good face, but he is all too aware of his place in the Civil Rights era. Joe and Claire both feel out of place in the mostly all-white, all-male medical field, which bonds them together in a lifelong friendship.

The third season picks up right after Claire travels through the stones to return to her life in 1948. Now pregnant, she struggles with the fallout of her sudden reappearance and its effect on her marriage to her first husband, Frank (Tobias Menzies). Meanwhile, in the 18th century, Jamie suffers from the aftermath of his doomed last stand at the historic battle of Culloden, as well as the loss of Claire. As the years pass, Jamie and Claire attempt to make a life apart from one another, each haunted by the memory of their lost love. The budding possibility that Claire can return to Jamie in the past breathes new hope into Claire’s heart… as well as new doubt. Separated by continents and centuries, Claire and Jamie must find their way back to each other.

Thanks to the folks at Variety for the above details.  Outlander does not have an official airdate on Starz yet, but it’s anticipated to back in early 2017.

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