'Outlander' season 2 cast news: Oscar Kennedy as young William Grey and Clive Russell as Jamie's grandfather
Season 2 of "Outlander" is expected to be bigger than ever as part of the season will be set in 18th century Paris.
While living among the elite in the chic European city, Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) will be making new friends and enemies as they look for Bonnie Prince Charles in order to stop the Jacobite rebellion and prevent the massacre at Culloden. The new season will also see new characters who will make an impact on the couple's lives in the future.
On Monday, Nov. 16, the show's Twitter handle announced that the Starz series has added a new member to its cast.
"The #Outlander Season 2 news continues: Oscar Kennedy will play honorable gentleman, the young William Grey!" the tweet read.
Kennedy is a British actor and is known for his role as a young Nigel Slater on the TV movie "Toast." The 16-year-old also acted in the TV mini-series "The White Queen" as Henry Tudor as well as on other shows such as "Hunted," "The Politician's Husband" and "Silk."
In Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" novels, William Grey makes his first appearance in the second book "Dragonfly in Amber" as a young officer in the British army. Upon seeing Claire and Jamie together, William assumes that she is his captive and attempts to rescue her, but his plans go awry when Jamie captures him, but eventually, he sets him free. In the other books following the second installment of Gabaldon's novels, Grey grows up and is eventually known as Lord John, and he will have an interesting relationship with both Claire and Jamie.
Meanwhile, another one of Jamie's relatives has been cast, and earlier this month it was announced that Clive Russell will be playing Jamie's grandfather, Simon Lovat, also known as the Old Fox. The Scottish actor is known for his work on "Game of Thrones" as Brynden "Blackfish" Tully.
While Russell has made the leap from the HBO show to "Outlander," one "Game of Thrones" actress has shot down rumors that she is playing a major part n season 2 of the Starz series. Earlier this year, it was rumored that Sophie Turner was being eyed to play the part of Jamie and Claire's daughter, Brianna.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Turner denied that she was going to be on "Outlander," saying, "Somebody mentioned [the role] to me when I was on the red carpet somewhere, that I'd make a great Brianna, and I think the guy Sam retweeted it or something,"
She added that people started talking like she was going to be on the show.
"I've never seen the show. I'm sure it's great, but I'm loyal to my one true love!" Turner said.
In response to a Radio Times report that says Turner thinks that he might have something to do with the casting rumors, Heughan retweeted the Radio Times post and wrote, "Not guilty…"
"Outlander" season 2 premieres in 2016 on Starz.