IN CONVERSATION WITH RORY ALEXANDER

interview by JANA LETONJA

Rory Alexander will next be seen as the young Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser in the highly anticipated ‘Outlander’ prequel series ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’, premiering on 8th August on Starz and produced by Sony Pictures Television. He earned critical acclaim for his lead performance in the atmospheric British folk-horror ‘Inland’, starring opposite Mark Rylance in Fridtjof Ryder’s haunting debut feature, which premiered at the London Film Festival. For his performance, Rory was BIFA longlisted for both Best Actor and Breakthrough Performer. His growing screen credits also include Danny Boyle’s ‘Pistol’ for FX, Element Film’s ‘Dark Windows’, ‘DarkGame’ with Ed Westwick, Sky’s ‘Then You Run’, Amazon’s ‘Alex Rider’ S2, and Netflix’s ‘Anxious People’.

suit CENCI

brooch STYLIST’S ARCHIVE

shoes GH BASS

You’re stepping into the role of young Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser in ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’. What was your first reaction when you got the part, and what does it mean to you to be part of such a beloved universe?

I was obviously over the moon, but it was a long process, on both sides of the strike. I remember thinking “I don’t know if I can wait much longer”, and then it all happened so quickly. I got the job, and was in Glasgow the next morning for a costume fitting, trying very hard to make a good impression through a mighty hangover. It’s lovely to be able to expand on a world that people already know and love, and to bring some fresh energy to it all. There’s obviously pressure to maintain and raise the standards that have been set for so long, but that’s part of it. I’m half Scottish, so getting to be back here and see the highlands from horseback is a very special experience.

Murtagh is a fan-favorite character originally played by Duncan LaCroix. Did you study his portrayal in the original series, or are you approaching the role with a fresh interpretation?

My first instinct was to watch everything he’d done, and then I had to slow myself down. I knew I’d start copying him, and that wasn’t really the point of portraying a young version of Murtagh. I figure that there’s so much detail about the character, from the books and ‘Outlander’, that if I made my own version, the apple wouldn’t fall too far from the tree. This is a Murtagh who is full of hope and ambition, with a spring in his step, and he doesn’t know the trials that Duncan’s character had to go through yet. So, I’m keeping him safe for a bit, or as long as I can.  

The series is set in two distinct time periods and dives deep into the early relationships that shaped Jamie and Claire. Without giving away any spoilers, what can fans expect from the tone and heart of the prequel?

There are definitely some similarities, but there’s also an edge that makes it feel very fresh. There are so many characters to follow and each one has a really delicately drawn map, which is the benefit of a two-part story. It’s a fun thing to be working backwards, where you know the ending but have such a limited understanding of the origin, so we’ve taken the chance to take a risk or two. 

How did you prepare, emotionally or physically, for stepping into a historical world so rich in lore and expectation?

Of all the places to go away and film for months on end, Glasgow is a great one. It’s a wonderful city. I’ve got family nearby, so making friends and feeling at home was kind of taken care of. For the job itself, I had to ride a horse for the first time (obviously I claimed I could before the show began), then it was a question of research - the historical side, the food, the hierarchies. None of it comes to bear on the screen in scenes, but it’s just a way to feel like you know how this person would be when the camera isn’t rolling. The expectation is something I can’t really think about. If I was worried about audience feedback while trying to ride a horse into battle, I don’t think I’d still be standing. It’s obviously so important that people connect with the show and the characters, but all I can do is focus on the job and hope the end product gives them what they deserve. 

From gritty realism in ‘Inland’ to the punk chaos of ‘Pistol’, your roles vary dramatically. What do you look for when choosing projects or characters?

I think it’s just something you can tell from the minute you read the script. Abel Ferrara talks about how a script can have a soul. It doesn’t even need to be finished, or perfect, or long, it just carries something special in it that feels different. ‘Inland’ was exactly that. Something that felt very hard to access, but just read differently. ‘Pistol’ had a story and a period of history that is so exciting and they were capable of bringing it to life in a way most filmmakers wouldn’t have the scope, imagination or budget to try, so it’s different for different opportunities. When a project feels like it could be made by anyone, or have anyone in it, then it loses that glint of something in it. All engagement comes out of being really specific. If a project is trying to be too general, or feels generic, it’s so much harder to relate to. When I see a character who is facing a very specific kind of crisis, I want to jump in and help them out. Or fail with them. 

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trousers EMPORIO ARMANI

You’ve worked under directors like Danny Boyle and Justin Chadwick. What have you learned from those sets that’s stayed with you til today?

Both those sets were so alive. Everything changed minute to minute and there was this frantic energy around them, with a pair of directors in total control at the centre. It’s funny, thinking about how you can go from a really intimate scene with just two of you, or one, and it’s kind of a dialogue between you and a director. It’s then a scene with 300 people, but you still feel like you’re being spoken directly to. They were both very good at letting every scene feel as important as the next. And that was what I learnt. It takes a long time and a lot of chaos to make something into its whole, and each fraction needs attention. If I were to decide that a scene isn’t so important because narratively it’s just a bridge, that bridge collapses. 

You’ve also appeared in ‘Alex Rider’, ‘Anxious People’, and ‘Then You Run’. Which of the roles you’ve done so far challenged you the most, and why?

These jobs were all kind of SAS operations. You drop in, do your stuff, and you’re out again before you’ve got time for lunch. There’s something really challenging about having to turn up and be at 100% from the second you begin. There’s little prep, you don’t know anyone, sometimes you don’t even know a lot of the context of what’s going on, so you got to just arrive and swing, hard. That’s always tricky, but the hardest has been ‘Inland’, because it just took so much time and effort and energy. Sustaining a focus for weeks on end, with about 9 frames of the film I wasn’t needed for, left me pretty shattered, in the best way. 

You’ve had a whirlwind few years with major projects across streaming, TV, and indie film. When did it feel like things truly started to shift in your career?

I don’t know if it’s a shift because you acclimatise very quickly. You do a big show on a massive set and it feels wild, and then by the third week you’re just going to work and you forget the world might be watching.  You can then do a short film where we’re cooking each other oven pizzas, and it feels like the scene you’re about to do is the hardest of your career. I’d hope it’s just momentum and each bit is just another little push in the right direction, but it’s not a straight-line teleology. There are plenty of days where it feels too grand to even call this a career, just some bits and bobs. 

Looking ahead, are there particular directors, genres, or roles that you’re eager to explore next?

I’d love to work with Fridjof Ryder again, after ‘Inland’. The idea of setting up a little collective like the Dogme 95, or those working relationships like Barentini and Stephen Graham have, would be exciting. Where you keep developing the language together. I’m a huge fan of Alice Rohrwacher. Going to European festivals really opened my eyes to a lot of gorgeous stuff and it’s exciting to see the potential for English actors in European cinema. I’d like to play someone fashionable.

Tell us more about yourself and who Rory is outside of acting.

I spend a lot of time writing. It keeps me sane, gives me some creative control over things. I studied Literature and I’ve never really stopped studying that, so I just tinker with my own stuff. I’ve got a play about thatching in the works. My pal is a master thatcher and we do roofs together, which is about as far away from a film set as you can get, talking bollocks on a thatched roof and then writing it down after. The rest of the time, I’m having a pint somewhere with my mates, playing footy, just the usual stuff. It’s a nice life where you pick up friends from the different chapters, and if you’re off work you’ve got the time to catch everyone properly. It’s a lot of solo cinema trips before they finish work at actual jobs, which suits me down to the ground. My mates do much more interesting things than me, so unless I’ve got celebrity gossip, they don’t care about my job at all. 

CREDITS

photography JEMIMA MARRIOTT

styling NATHAN HENRY

grooming CHARLIE CULLEN