Caitriona Balfe Was Cast as Claire on 'Outlander' Just Days Before Production Started

There’s no other person other than Caitriona Balfe that we can imagine as Claire on Outlander.

However, it turns out that the -year-old actress was cast just days before production started on the hit Starz series.

Speaking to Collider, showrunner Ronald D. Moore opened up about early casting processes that brought us to Sam Heughan and Caitriona as Jamie and Claire.

“At the beginning, I said, ‘We’re going to cast Claire first because she’ll be the easiest to find,’” he recalled. “‘She’s a smart 20th-century British woman, and there are lots of them and we’ll find her quickly, but Jamie’s gonna be tough. How do you find the king of men? This heroic figure, this Scot?’”

Sam ended up being the first one cast for the show, with Claire still missing the actress who would play her.

“We found Sam, he was the first cast member,” Ronald revealed. “We just saw his tape and we went, “Oh my god, there he is.’ It was just like…boom.”

However, with Claire, it was a bit trickier: “We were really trying to find a very special quality. I always said that I wanted Claire to be really smart, and you had to see her thinking. And you know she had to be this really capable interesting person and she had to marry up really well with Sam.”

Then, just days before production began, Caitriona‘s self-made audition tape was discovered by producers, and after a screen test with Sam, Ronald knew she was the one.

“We didn’t find her until very late in the game, and she taped her own audition and sent it in,” he explained. “We just were like pretty certain from her tape that she was the one. And then when we saw the chemistry test, we were convinced.”

“Once we cast her she was on a plane to Scotland within a day and shooting like two days later,” he added. “I mean we were so close to the beginning of production it was really starting to scare everyone.”

Just recently, Caitriona hinted at a delay in the start of production for season six.

The Greek Theatre is trying to stay during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic – they canceled their entire 2020 summer schedule.

This is the first time in the theatre’s 90-year history that they have canceled an entire season.

“Although we had hoped to celebrate our 90th anniversary season of providing live entertainment for the citizens of Los Angeles, we feel it is the right, responsible and safe thing for fans, artists, staff and our Griffith Park community to put a pause on live, large crowd events until 2021,” said AP Diaz, executive officer and chief of staff of L.A.’s Department of Recreation and Parks, which owns the celebrated facility via Deadline.

Big names that were scheduled to perform at the Greek Theatre this summer included Alicia Keys, John Legend, and Kesha.

Some events at the Greek Theatre have been outright canceled, while others have been postponed or reschedule.

You can check out the entire list of affected shows inside…More Here! »

Kobe Bryant fans will have to wait just a little bit for his induction ceremony into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Jerry Colangelo, the chairman of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame’s board of governors, revealed to ESPN that the induction ceremony had been delayed until the spring of 2021.

“We’re definitely canceling,” he shared. “It’s going to have to be the first quarter of next year. We’ll meet in a couple of weeks and look at the options of how and when and where.”

The ceremony was originally scheduled to take place on August 29, with Columbus Day Weekend as a backup date.

The 2020 Hall of Fame class includes Kobe, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett and Tamika Catchings, as well as former Houston Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich, former collegiate coach Eddie Sutton, Baylor women’s basketball coach Kim Mulkey, former women’s college basketball coach Barbara Stevens and former FIBA and IOC executive Patrick Baumann.

See how Kobe‘s widow, Vanessa Bryant, reacted to the news of his induction here…

Kelly Rowland is looking fit!

The 39-year-old singer flashed her toned midriff while arrive at Erewhon Market to do some grocery shopping on Tuesday afternoon (May 26) in Santa Monica, Calif.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Kelly Rowland

Kelly kept things casual in a “Good Mama” sweatshirt and jeans as she stepped out to stock up on some groceries.

Over the weekend, Kelly took to Instagram to share a couple videos of her fun day in the pool with son Titan, 5.

“🌞MEMORIAL DAY VIBES🌞 To all the BRAVE men & women who have served our country, we thank you! We SALUT YOU!” Kelly captioned the below post.

Make sure you check out the music video for Kelly Rowland‘s song “Coffee” here!

Colton Haynes chats on the phone while waiting to get inside the Pavilions on Wednesday afternoon (May 27) in West Hollywood, Calif.

The 31-year-old Arrow actor showed off his buff arms in a dark purple T-shirt paired with jeans, sunglasses, and a face mask as he stepped out to do a little shopping.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Colton Haynes

In order to give himself some company during the ongoing quarantine, Colton recently adopted a cat, which he named after Timothee Chalamet!

Colton recently took to Instagram to share a couple super cute pics with his cat.

“My cat Timmy has a million personalities & im constantly covered in hair…a thread,” Colton captioned the below post.

Eva Longoria steps out in a white tank and flowy skirt while heading to an appointment in Los Angeles on Tuesday (May 26).

The -year-old actress has recently opened up about how she landed the director role for Flamin’ Hot, which centers on Richard Montanez, who worked as a Frito-Lay janitor and created the beloved Flamin’ Hot Cheetos snack for the company.

Eva had advice from Desperate Housewives producer Brian Tanen, who told her to think like a “white man.”

“I was practicing pitching [for the job] with him and he said, ‘Stop right there. Put on your male privilege pants and stop asking to do this movie. Walk in the room as if that movie’s yours and you’re directing it and tell them this is how you’re going to cast it, this is how you’re going to shoot it,” she recalled to The Sun.

Eva continued, “And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, yeah! I’m not a man and I’m not white, so I wouldn’t think to do that’. It was a change in approach to every sentence that came out of my mouth.”

Learn even more about the upcoming movie on JustJared.com now!

Adam Sandler leads his dog for a walk on the beach in Los Angeles on Tuesday afternoon (May 26).

The -year-old actor enjoyed a late day stroll with wife Jackie, after picking up some food and drinks to go over the holiday weekend.

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Adam Sandler

Adam, along with directors Josh and Benny Safdie, opened up about some secrets behind his breakout film, Uncut Gems, including the time he really almost choked while filming.

The moment happened when Adam‘s character gets kidnapped, and after the scene, he was left with bruises.

“All three of those guys who are manhandling Sandler, it was the first movie they have done. So they were very professional, but when it is your first time – Sandler’s so in it, he is so into the character that it started to actually get a little scary. Because he is getting choked at one point in the scene,” Josh shared.

“Our stunt coordinator had eyes on him (Sandler) the whole time and kudos to him that he was really hawk-eyed about it – because there was one take when Sandler was getting choked and he was trying to tap out,” he added. “But the actor thought he was just being Howard so he choked harder, and Adam could not breathe.”

You can stream Uncut Gems now on Netflix.