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Outlander exclusive: Charles Vandervaart teases William finding out truth about Jamie

Charles Vandervaart, who plays William, opened up about Outlander season 7 episode 4


Charles Vandervaart as William Ransom in Outlander
Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
On 7 July 2023
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Outlander season seven episode four saw William Ransom take the lead role of the episode as he followed his mission with the British army – which goes horribly awry. In the episode, the secret son of James Fraser, played by Charles Vandervaart, is tasked to deliver messages but is injured, with young Ian coming to his aid.

We caught up with Charles about the episode, and chatted about everything from the gruesome prosthetics needed in the episode to when William will find out about his true parentage. Watch our full chat below.

During the conversation, Charles spoke about similarities between Jamie and William, and how he and Sam Heughan worked together on making some movements between the pair similar. " I started hitting the gym a lot more – I don't know if you've seen Sam but he's a big guy!" Charles joked. "Gotta get stronger to fill those shoes.

William looking dishevelled in episode 4 © Robert Wilson
William looking dishevelled in episode 4

"Sam and I talked quite a bit about the mannerisms he has in the show. I didn't want to do too many of the same because William is his own person… but William spent a lot of time with Jamie when he was younger not knowing he was his father… Jamie does this thing with his eyes, and with his little finger when he's thinking.

William in Outlander© Robert Wilson
William in Outlander
Jamie Fraser in Outlander season 7© Robert Wilson
Jamie Fraser in Outlander season 7

"We incorporated a little bit of that. It was just some subtle things. The subtleties are important. But the broader strokes are that fire and indomitable will."

MORE: Outlander: does William ever find out the truth about Jamie?

MORE: Outlander season 7: everything you need to know about the story so far

He also hinted that Jamie and William will of course come face-to-face during the season, adding: "I don't want to give too much away about what happens later in the season but definitely do have scenes together, we do meet at some point." For book readers, here's more about how that meeting goes down.

William Ransom is the son of Jamie Fraser and Geneva Dunsany© Instagram
William Ransom is the son of Jamie Fraser and Geneva Dunsany

Charles, who hails from Canada, uses a British accent to play the adoptive son of Lord John Grey, and spoke about working on his accent. "I'm not very good at accents so I did a lot of work when I was there," he explained. "The onset dialect coach was fantastic and helped me out a lot. I'm from Canada so I'm up there now. Hello from Canada!"

Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe in season seven
Jamie and Claire still haven't made it to Scotland

He added: "[It] goes to show how strong William's identity is tied to the English hierarchy and the monarchy and how painful that'll be to realise his position in that whole structure is illegitimate. So when he finds out that Jamie is his dad, I don't think he's going to be too thrilled about that."  

Watch Outlander on LIONSGATE+ in the UK and STARZ in the US

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