Category: Interviews
Check out this great new interview with Sophie and stunning photoshooot!
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Wylde: You started out doing ballet and singing, then moved into musical theatre. What kind of productions did you play in when you were younger?
Sophie Skelton: I ended up doing quite a range of musicals, from the slightly darker ones like Chicago to Oliver! and similar. Funnily enough, my first ever TV appearance was on the game show A Question of Sport. They have a “mystery guest” section, and I was doing a production of Oliver! at the Palace Theatre. The boxer Ricky Hatton came to the theatre and we had to perform one of the main musical numbers and re-choreograph it around him for him to then be revealed at the end. I think I was 11 at the time. That’s so bizarre… I just remembered that!
Did the idea of being a pop singer ever cross your mind, or were you always more drawn to the musical theatre side of things?
No, my career choices were between acting and being a surgeon – so highly unrelated to one another! I always felt more called to the acting though. I was forever at the cinema, I just loved it. It’s still my escape place now. I do still sing, and I love it, and the idea of being on stage again performing is really exciting to me but it was never my passion. Acting allows you to play out other people’s stories. I feel with singing, you sing about your own. I’m quite a private person; I think I’d rather use any heartache in my life to play someone else’s rather than divulge my own through a song!
What films inspired you, as a younger actress?
Anything with Audrey Hepburn, to be honest. The acting style was a lot bigger then and can often look almost comical now because it seems so “large” when taken out of its time and watched today, but she always managed to root everything in reality, even with that in mind. She made it so real. Others are Saving Private Ryan, Good Will Hunting, Band of Brothers. That’s off the top of my head but there are so many more! Continue reading The Wylde Interview: Sophie Skelton
There is nothing better than getting together with family for the holidays!
In honor of Sunday’s much-anticipated meeting between Brianna and Jamie, EW snagged the exclusive first photo of the Fraser family and the first official portrait of Brianna as an 18th century lady. The results are positively rosy!
We also checked in with executive producer Maril Davis about shooting the pivotal scene for “The Birds and the Bees.” Here’s what she had to say about Brianna (Sophie Skelton) meeting Jamie (Sam Heughan) for the first time.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY Did you like you needed to chat with Diana Gabaldon about the reunion?
MARIL DAVIS Everyone calls it a reunion. In fact, I’ve done it myself sometimes. They’ve never met before! We didn’t specifically talk to Diana. The scene is fairly similar to the book. It was important for us to get it right. We’ve been looking forward to that scene, seeing Jamie finally meeting his daughter. We had a lot of discussions with Sam and Sophie about it. I just love that it. There’s so much emotion there and for Jamie to see the daughter he’s heard so much about but never had the chance to meet … I think he’s shocked and overwhelmed and excited and heartbroken. There are so many emotions that show on Sam’s face. He does such an amazing job, as does Sophie.
What were the discussions about music for the scene?We had a lot of discussions with Bear [McCreary, the music creator] and initially, there was a little more music in the scene. He lays it out and then we weigh in and figure where the music should be set and pull it back if we need less. He struck a perfect tone.
So do Brianna and Jamie settle into a loving relationship?
It would be interesting to hear what Sam and Sophie felt about it but for us, we feel like Jamie has loved Brianna since he found out she existed. I mean, certainly once he sent Claire back with the stones, I don’t think he had hopes that he would survive, and Claire and their child would survive. But I think ever since Claire came back, he realized, ‘Oh, my God, I do have a child and she’s alive and her name is Brianna,’ so he has loved. I think it just deepens his love when he sees her in person. He’s had her in his mind already but I think he falls in love with her all over again. But while there is love there, it’s going to take a little while to get to a place where they’re both comfortable. Remember, they know about each other but they’ve never seen each other before. She loves Jamie but she’s still torn and feels loyalty toward Frank. It will be a really interesting journey for both of them.
Outlander airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET on Starz.
Check out this great new interview and beautiful photoshoot of Sophie for Schon Magazine.
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Warning: This interview does contain some spoilers for this season of “Outlander” so please only read if you have read the books or do not mind spoilers.
Refreshingly down-to-earth, Sophie Skelton seems blissfully unaware that she is on the brink of stardom. Earlier this year, she appeared with Nicolas Cage in 211, but she’s probably most recognisable as Brianna Randall Fraser, the flame-haired progeny of the hero and heroine of Outlander. Based on the best-selling books by Diana Gabaldon, the show is such a hit State-side that fans have dubbed off-air time as #Droughtlander. Well, the drought is finally is over. Outlander returns with a highly anticipated fourth season, only – this time around – Ms Skelton will be taking the lead.
So, Sophie, you started out dancing ballet, right?
I did, yes, when I was two or three – tap, jazz and modern as well. I did all of them until I was 18, 19. Now I just try to keep up with it. I always travel with my pointe shoes.
At what point did you start performing professionally?
I’ve been in amateur productions since I was three and went more professional as a teenager. I grew up North, so I started doing shows at the Palace Theatre: Oliver! and things like that. Ballet was never what I wanted to do professionally. I do love being on stage, but I wanted the discretion of film acting because, on stage, you make everything bigger. I like that you can’t lie on camera: what you think is what people see.
You made a deal with your parents to defer university to try out an acting career.
Yes. My parents designed toys, board games and such, so they knew the self-employment road. I’d done well at school, I suppose, so they were disappointed that I wasn’t going to pursue the academic route and a stable career, and they did try to put me off a bit. We struck a deal that if I got all A stars at A-level and a university place, they would let me defer for a year. As it turns out, that year went quite well [laughs].
Were you confident it was going to work out?
It’s not confidence. You know it’s going to be a hard road but it’s just that you can’t give yourself another reality if that makes sense? It’s not that you think everything’s going to be fine, you just have to believe that it is. I feel like that never really goes away.
Prior to Outlander, was there a turning point in your career?
Outlander was my pivotal point really. I’d done what, for British actors, are the boxes that needed to be ticked. I’d been in Casualty twice, done a lot of CBBC.
Continue reading Schon Magazine Interview & Photoshoot
The gallery has been updated with new stills & a behind the scenes picture of Sophie from “Outlander” episode 4×03 – The False Bride (airing this Sunday!). And be sure to check out a new interview & clip for the episode below.
The first two episodes of Outlander’s fourth season centered firmly around Jamie and Claire and their struggles to build a new life for themselves in pre-revolution America. But this week’s episode, titled “The False Bride,” brings us back to the 20th-century, and to Briana’s relationship with Roger Mackenzie.
In the exclusive sneak peek above, we first see Brianna and Roger reconnect in what appears to be an airport. Then, actors Sophie Skelton, who plays Brianna, and Richard Rankin, who plays Roger, break down what to expect from their characters this season.
“Brianna is 23, 24 years old at this point and has a lot of affection toward Roger,” Skelton says of her fiery character. There is also new footage of Brianna and Roger at a Scottish festival in North Carolina.
“Roger is the one person who can understand what Bree’s going through. She’s still trying to get over the death of Frank, her father.” But Skelton (and Brianna for that matter) isn’t so quick to commit.
“There is that fear of ending up with somebody and then realizing that actually there’s a whole new level of love out there that you didn’t know about,” she says as we see Brianna and Roger flirting, dancing, and kissing on screen.
Rankin, too, offers perspective on his character this season.
“Roger is an assistant professor, one of the youngest ever at Oxford. I think what he’s looking for is to be rooted in something. I think he’s looking to ground himself,” Rankin explains. “Roger puts absolutely everything on the line for Brianna.”
The video then ends with Roger ominously telling Briana, “I have some news” over the phone.
Watch the full clip up top, then tune in to Outlander Sunday nights at 8 p.m. EST on Starz. Still need to catch up on this season? Click the link below to watch episodes one and two on Amazon Prime.
Check out this batch of great new interviews with Sophie for season four of “Outlander”. Be sure to click on ‘Continue Reading’ below to see more!
Continue reading Video Interviews: “Outlander” Season 4 Press
