Why the Stakes Were Higher for David Berry to Return to Outlander This Season
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Filming a television show during a pandemic is a complicated situation for everyone involved—especially when that series is Outlander, a story that wouldn't be the same without its most intimate moments. But the decision to return to set for season six was even more complex for actor David Berry, who plays Lord John Grey.
"It was extremely challenging," he tells Town & Country, reflecting on the experience. "The stakes of coming back were a little bit higher for me because I was in Australia. Australia's experience of the pandemic was vastly different to the UK, and indeed a lot of the world. We hadn't experienced much COVID at all and we weren't in a lockdown or anything. So I was coming from a place of safety."
There was also a chance that once he left Australia, he wouldn't be able to return home for some time, due to COVID protocols. "To leave was a huge commitment and risk because there was every chance that I would be stranded in the UK," he says.
"I felt personally a tremendous sense of anxiety and fear coming to the UK. Because it's coming from a place of safety where I hadn't experienced any COVID, and then being thrown right into the lion's den, right into the middle of it."
His appearance in this season may come as a bit of a surprise to some fans, after a statement Berry made on social media at the end of season five was misinterpreted, and spread widely.
"Don't like goodbyes, tears or sighs," Berry wrote on Instagram at the end of season five. In the comments, he elaborated further. When a fan asked, "Oh no! Now I’m worried! I hope you only mean 'goodbye' for this season and not that you are leaving the show ??," he replied: "final ep on show. But 'life is long. Perhaps someday'??," quoting his character.
"I thought it was quite clear that at the end of season five, Lord John had said goodbye. He's going to England. And that entire episode was about saying goodbye. Everyone's saying goodbye. And I think people picked up on that, because maybe, they have an anxiety that Lord John's not coming back," Berry explains to T&C.
"Lord John follows his own lane in this series. He comes and goes from the Frasers' lives. But when their parts intersect, it's great and it's surprising. And I like to keep that element of surprise about the character, that we never know when he's going to turn up, and I don't think we ever should. I guess I took from that a great sense of gratitude that people were concerned and considerate of his continued presence in the show. But I never know when Lord John's going to come and go from the show. That's not at my control. It's up to the producers and the writers who already have that plan in mind."
In tonight's episode, Lord John reunites with the Frasers, but his conversation with Jamie about loyalty doesn't exactly go as planned. "I think when Lord John hears Jamie say, 'I want independence,' he hears, 'Your friendship is not important to me,'" says Berry. "And I think that deeply hurts Lord John. He can't really connect on a deep level with Jamie's idea that freedom is so important to him that he's willing to stand behind and fight for these principles. Lord John, he's more concerned about Jamie's safety and his welfare."
So Lord John agrees to delay the British soldiers from discovering the Sons of Liberty, putting his relationship with Jamie ahead of his allegiance to king and country.
"At the end of the day, Lord John has always had to acquiesce to Jamie because he loves him," explains Berry," and I think that that's going to prove to cause a bit of tension in their friendship down the road."
Outlander airs Sunday nights on Starz. Sign up for Starz
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