‘Outlander’ Star Caitriona Balfe Spills On Her ‘Raunchy’ Sex Scenes With Sam Heughan

Caitriona Balfe is busy working on Season 4 of Outlander, but the actress recently took time out of her busy schedule to chat about her on-screen romance with Sam Heughan. Although Jamie and Claire Fraser have developed a reputation for those steamy sex scenes, Balfe is grateful that the show approaches their epic romance from a female perspective.

During an interview on RTE’s The Late Late Show, Balfe opened up about what makes her raunchy scenes with Heughan work.

While many shows use sex solely for its entertaining value, Balfe revealed that Outlander only gets intimate if the scenes make sense with the broader story, which makes performing them a lot easier. She also appreciates the fact that the entire story is told from a female perspective, something that isn’t that common in Hollywood.

“But you know, I obviously read the first book before I got the show and when I sat down with Ron D. Moore he was very interested in telling a love story and any of the sex scenes from a female perspective,” Balfe explained. “I think it’s an integral part of the story. It’s a love story and it’s about the passion and the chemistry between these two characters.”

Balfe also dished on why she likes portraying Claire on the show. Apart from her steamy romance with the Scottish hunk, Balfe talked about how Claire is an empowered woman and timeless character, despite living in a time where women enjoyed few rights. And while Balfe and Heughan have spent a lot of time under the sheets, she considers it a role of a lifetime.

Balfe’s interview comes amid production for Season 4 of Outlander. The cast and crew are currently busy filming for the new season in Scotland, and some of them recently sat down for a little Valentine’s Day chat.

In a short clip, Heughan and Bale reenacted a few scenes from When Harry Met Sally and also talked about their character’s most romantic moments.

For Jamie, Heughan said the sweetest thing he’s done for Claire was giving her his family’s pearl necklace. Claire’s most romantic gesture, meanwhile, was giving Jamie a child.

Although Heughan and Balfe’s chemistry is evident in front of the cameras, her involvement in Outlander wasn’t always a sure thing.

Fans doubted Balfe’s casting at first and even executive producer Ronald D. Moore had concerns about their onscreen chemistry.

To alleviate the doubts, Moore got Heughan and Balfe together for a special chemistry read. Luckily, she immediately hit it off strong with Heughan and Moore could tell that they had a lot of potential together. The rest, as they say, is history.

Production for the new season of Outlander is expected to wrap in a few months. Starz has not announced an official premiere date for Season 4, but the show is expected to return to the network sometime this fall.