Best known for playing Claire Fraser in the historical fantasy series Outlander, a role she inhabited for 12 years, Irish actor Caitríona Balfe has built an impressive body of work across film and television, with notable performances in Money Monster, Ford v Ferrari and Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast.
In Apple Original Film Tenzing, she takes on the role of Jill Henderson, the Honorary Secretary of the Himalayan Club from 1951 to 1955, who played a consequential part in Tenzing Norgay’s mountaineering journey, helping secure his first expedition and connecting him to the historic ascent of Mount Everest.
The film also marks a new chapter for Balfe, who returned to acting after taking a six-month break following the conclusion of Outlander.
In this conversation, she reflects on returning to Nepal after 25 years, the experience of letting go of a character who shaped much of her life, the enduring importance of the arts and storytelling, and the new challenges she hopes to take on. Excerpts...
You first visited Nepal around 25 years ago as a young student, returning for the first time while shooting Tenzing recently. You've spoken about how globalisation has homogenised travel, making places feel increasingly similar. Given how much you travel, how did Nepal compare with the country you remembered? Does it still retain the magic of your first visit?
Absolutely, that's such a lovely question. Nepal had held such a special place in my heart because when I went as a 20 year old, it was the most incredible trip I had ever taken. It remained sort of that place in my heart where I always wanted to go back.
When I was first asked about the film, the minute they said it was shooting in Nepal, I wanted to do it. But then I sort of had this apprehension because I was like, "Oh God, is it going to be so changed? You know, what is it going to be like when I go back?"
But I was so pleasantly surprised by how much had remained the same, but also by the modernisation that had happened and the way that it had happened. I had an incredible assistant named Shivalika who was helping me navigate around, when I was there. Shavalika is from Kathmandu, she's a young 22-year-old who had studied abroad and come back, and she brought me to these amazing Nepali-owned coffee shops, design stores and yoga centers. They were all owned by these young people who had travelled away and come back, and were forming new Nepal in their own way.
There were no Western chains. I don't know that I saw a single McDonald's! There was no Starbucks. It was so refreshing. Kathmandu is one of the most beautiful cities, and it was a beautiful thing to witness how it has evolved and how it's growing, but in its own way.
Outlander concluded this year after 12 years and 101 episodes, with you playing your now-celebrated role of Claire Fraser for much of that time. You've spoken about how emotional it was to say goodbye. After spending so much of your life with a character, how do you let go and move on to roles such as Jill Henderson in Tenzing?
I had actually taken six months off after we wrapped Outlander, and playing Jill was the first job that I had to go back to. To let go of something like Claire was momentous. It was a huge chunk of my life. When we wrapped, it had been a quarter of my life that I had played that character.
I think we were all ready to have new challenges in our lives. I was very sad to say goodbye to Claire, but I went off and I did a retreat and lots of meditating and gratitude, all of those things. I was ready to let her go, and take on new challenges.
This job, when it came to me, felt like a real gift from the universe because it ticked so many boxes of things that I had wanted to do. I got to play a woman in the 1950s, and we got to do these incredible things, working with the costume designer and the hair and makeup team about how to age.
My role in Tenzing is a small part of this bigger picture, but it felt like the most beautiful taster of re-entry into the business in a new way. To work with the team and see how incredible and amazing they all were was a nice reassurance that things are going to be okay post-Outlander. (smiles)
Tenzing tells the story of two legendary mountaineers and their ascent of Mount Everest. As an actor, do you have a personal Everest you'd like to conquer?
Maybe doing theatre. It seems so trite to use anything in our own lives and compare it to climbing Everest. But doing theatre is something I've wanted to do since I was a kid, and my life has taken many of these detours that haven't let it happen yet. Maybe that will be my Everest.
Irish actors have made a really significant impact in Hollywood over the past 10 to 15 years. You've spoken about how Ireland's creative culture encourages engagement with the arts from an early age. How would you define Ireland's creative community?
You know, growing up in Ireland, we have such an ancient history of storytelling, music and dance, probably not dissimilar to India. When a culture reveres that as an essential part of being human and of connection, it allows you the freedom to engage with it in the right way. It's not just for success or fame or fortune.
It's about expressing yourself, connecting to your culture and to the parts of you or another person that are unseen. I think that's what's really important.
In a lot of countries, especially in the West at the moment, we're seeing budgets cutting arts in schools and communities, and it's destroying our ability to connect with each other. The more we see division, the less we're understanding our similarities, the differences we may have to overcome and how we can overcome them. The arts is such an incredible vehicle for helping ease that division.
I think there's a lot of Irish people in the culture at the moment because we came from a rich background of that. It was very much a part of our schooling and our communities, and I hope that continues.
Your Tenzing co-stars Tom Hiddleston and Willem Dafoe are widely recognised for their superhero roles. Would you ever consider joining a superhero film?
Gosh, I would never say never! For me, it's always about when I read something, does my heart connect to it or not? These big movies can really touch people and inspire people. I have a five-year-old son, and I see how excited he gets about things like that. Spider-Man is big in our house at the moment, so I would never say never to those. (laughs)
You also have the new adaptation of Sense and Sensibility coming up, in which you play Mrs. Dashwood. Why do you think Jane Austen's story remains relevant centuries later, and how will this version connect with modern audiences?
Stories that are classics have these centralised themes that connect with us. They're things that are essentially human, that we felt 200 or 300 years ago and will probably still feel 500 years in the future. It's the same with Marvel. If you think about Thor, that's based on an old Norse classic.
These central themes of love, homeland or striving for power are things that human beings wrestle with all the time.
Jane Austen is one of the most celebrated female authors in that classic world. Every generation meets these authors and texts with their own perspective. Georgia Oakley, our director of Sense and Sensibility, who's another incredible female director, had a really interesting take on the story.
It's a film that feels comforting because it's something we've known for a very long time, but at the same time, it feels slightly provocative because it has this fresh take on it.
Especially now, when so much is about commercialism and capitalism, what is actually important in life? Is it connection of the heart? Do you choose these things with your head? Are decisions formed based on a monetary reason? All of these things are still as relevant today as they were in Regency England. I hope audiences really connect with the film because I think it's beautiful.