Caitriona Balfe talks Outlander & Money Monster in the new issue of Hot Press

Caitriona Balfe, the Monaghan actor who made it to Hollywood following a decade of super model-ry.
Balfe is a bona fide megastar in the US thanks to her starring role in Outlander, the time-travelling Starz drama, which airs here on RTÉ.
Lest you think that the life of a TV leading lady is all glamour, Balfe recalls a particularly grim Outlander shoot last year
“We filmed in a disused quarry outside Bathgate and it rained non-stop for four days,” she recalls. “We had to move our base camp because they were worried it was going to sink. There’s nothing like shooting outdoors in Scotland from October to February to toughen you up!"
Caitriona does get to wear some nice frocks, though…
“As a woman I challenge any man to spend 12 hours in a corset, a bumroll and a cage and not lose the will to live! One of our writers, Matt B. Roberts, always puts me into a pair of trousers when he’s doing a 1940s scene – and gets a nice bottle of whiskey from me as a ‘thank you.’”
As part of the Season 2 premiere hype, Starz have decorated all four sides of a Beverly Hills office block with giant wraparound Outlander posters.
“It’s funny because when I first moved to Los Angeles I was living with an ex-boyfriend who now has a massive poster of me at the end of his street! You think back to the days when things were really tough and pinch yourself.”
In addition to her Outlander role, Caitriona stars alongside George Clooney and Julia Roberts in the new Jodie Foster financial collapse movie, Money Monster.
“Jodie was so inspirational,” Balfe enthuses. “She liked the tape I’d done, so I went and auditioned for her in person in LA. She arrived with her backpack on and was very much a down to earth, cool person. We got straight into the work. It felt like two actors going through a scene and mining it for whatever we could find. The process of working with her was amazing. Jodie is so smart and a constant source of knowledge. She’s one of those actors that you aspire to emulate even a tenth of what they’ve done. I respect and admire people who put work before fame and life before work.”
Caitriona also talks Sly, Arnie, Saoirse and JJ in a fascinating interview, which you can read in the issue of Hot Press with them Kodaline boys on the cover.