In an exclusive interview with Express.co.uk, Outlander actor Paul Gorman spoke about the progressive throuple storyline involving his characters and twins Josiah and Keziah Beardsley with Lizzie Wemyss (Caitlin O’Ryan). Season six saw the three characters getting married after Lizzie confessed she’d fallen in love with the identical twin brothers and all three of them wished to live together in holy matrimony. Despite Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) finding the relationship hard to fathom, the trio managed to get married to each other.
Actor Paul knew about the plot because of his research into the characters while he was auditioning for Josiah and Keziah.
He even read the hefty Outlander novel A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, which featured the formation of the polyamorous romance, to gain a better insight into the plot line.
Paul, 26, said: “I was realty excited about it because on paper it seemed really progressive, in a way, in a world which is 18th century America it’s not progressive – not in terms of today, anyhow.
“A lot of restrictions in terms of faith, marriage, and everything’s planned out. We have much more freedom today.
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Adding: “In that way, I found it extremely beautiful because of that. That genuine sincerity of that relationship of their arc was really exciting as an actor to jump into and develop that as well.”
Paul said the marriage was not only rooted in love but also in equality between all of them.
Reflecting on the dynamics of the relationship, Paul said: “Both Josiah and Kezzie want the best for each other.
“They want each other to be happy and it’s the thing they’ve strived for their entire lives being in indentured servitude and wanting to be free.
“They want nothing but happiness and Lizzie feels that as well. That love is shared.”
He continued: “So, there’s no competition in a way. I had in my head, I believed if Lizzie fell in love with just one twin rather than the other twin, then the other twin would be supportive and understand that because that’s the kind of relationship that both Josiah and Kezzie have.
“That made our polyamorous relationship make sense because it is equal, it is shared, it is rooted again in that genuine love.”
The star first joined Outlander back in season five when Josiah was first introduced to the show with his twin Keziah later entering the story.
Paul also did extensive research when portraying Keziah, who is profoundly deaf and worked with deaf and non-binary star Bea Webster on his performance.
Webster even served as a deaf consultant on Outlander to shape the character of Keziah.
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Paul said he looked at the science of Keziah’s hearing and what he would be able to hear and how he would speak as well as the specific decibels the character would be able to hear.
He said: “A massive thing about both these twins and Kezzie was making it as authentic as possible.”
Season seven is still in the works and is expected to see the next development in Lizzie’s marriage with the Beardsleys.
This will also be the penultimate season with the show ending with series eight after Starz recently announced the news.
However, before then season seven will be extra-long with 16 episodes for fans to enjoy to make up for the shorter previous outing.
Outlander season 7 will premiere later this year and seasons 1 to 6 are streaming on Lionsgate+ now
