The guttural, animalistic scream of childbirth is a sound distinguishable from any other. Sophie Skelton swore to perfect it before Brianna Frasier—the character she plays on smash success Scottish historical drama series Outlander—delivered a son in the show’s fourth season.

The star’s commitment to this particular perfection proved necessary in Brianna’s on-screen portrayal; through two births, through motherhood, through everything glorious and wretched. “There were a few traits [Brianna] had that I didn’t find super redeemable,” Skelton discloses to me on Zoom, recounting her initial impression of the character she would play for almost a decade, “but this gave her somewhere to go.” Reflectively, maybe a bit nostalgically, she adds: “I love who Brianna’s become.” 

The actor could not have known she would spend her twenties personifying the life of a fictional young woman born almost a century ago, but she did know she wanted to be an actress—there was no prying that away from her after her musical theatre debut as a young child—thus, learning to see beyond demeanor became one of her more critical skills. “I can read the subtext quite well,” Skelton discloses, “of a scene or a person—which benefits both me and my work.” 

Skelton seems to describe Brianna’s past more wistfully than her own. The actor, who got her start training at the Royal Academy of Ballet before appearing in DCI Banks, Ren, 211, and Outlander is calculated as she outlines her young relationship to ballet and musical theatre. She speaks of growing to appreciate how the discipline of classical dance and onstage performing translated to the world of acting. “Having muscle memory, multitasking, and stamina under my belt was incredibly helpful,” she admits. “When you see other people on set who struggle with continuity, thinking so much about which hand to do what with, it inevitably removes them from their character.” 

Though Skelton found solace in her aptitude for choreography, she labored (lovingly) to appease her character’s on-screen emotional life. Independent research substantiates connection—the actor celebrated the opportunity to study even the most nuanced Brianna-adjacent experiences, specifically those foreign to her. 

Yet the star struggled at the onset of Brianna’s rape scene, set to air post-Harvey Weinstein case, as the wave of collectively loud victim stories grew so tall the media was compelled to briefly cede its historically dismissive narrative. With a conscious responsibility to honor an untold number of women’s experiences (Brianna included), she surrendered completely to the research process.

“I found these studies on tonic immobility,” Skelton says, recalling the hours she spent attempting to gauge the most appropriate, relevant reaction (or non-reaction). “It’s kind of like a fight or flight response—your body essentially goes numb… into freeze mode.” She felt there was more to just knowing Brianna as well as she did, she must also embrace the lack of reason—of predictability—behind any woman’s trauma response. The actress filmed the scene, valiantly, more than once. In the end, though, the physical assault was left off-screen. Instead, the audible struggle of a woman remolded forever in the back of a pub—the awkward negligence and sadistic gratification from those who heard her implosion—that’s what viewers were left with. 

How did Skelton do this her way—Brianna’s way—with so much of the scene’s direction predetermined? Having innate self-confidence and an awareness of what’s truly meant to be collaborative is the actress’s typical approach. Yet working under the weight of this plotpoint, Skelton felt an auspicious obligation to fight for her character. “On set, after Brianna’s assault, there was a scene in which she sat at dinner with her family, in the same skirt she’d been raped in,” she pointedly recalls, “I was passionate that Brianna not wear the same clothes...I felt her presence in my body.” 

To describe acting as “living a double life” is deceptive—the job requires a more nuanced approach. Sometimes Skelton danced inside Brianna during the workday then broke their unity once the cameras turned off. Sometimes Brianna was “a vessel for her shit,” and sometimes she felt so divinely connected to Brianna’s internal monologue she was able to set her own aside for later. For the most part, Skelton could ditch her character’s baggage before arriving home at night. Separation paves way for sustainability, for sanity, and for success. 

What’s next for the actor? While she still has celebrating (and mourning) to do as she reflects on the formative years allocated to Brianna i.e. the decade of being twenty-something in windy, muddy Scotland (“Nobody warned me how tricky that would be”), filming for the eighth and final season of Outlander is over (to be released next year; the second part of the show’s seventh season just released in November on MGM+ in the UK and Starz in the US). After concluding her tenure on the show, I think she may return to her roots—the stage. 

I made a mental note of Skelton’s obvious attachment to live performance in the midst of our conversation. “People think being on stage must be daunting, but when you’re on set, there are 30 plus individuals in your face as you stand in front of the camera,” she says, “Performing live is quite a freeing experience...with the spotlight on you, you kind of just feel like you’re on your own.” Whether many actors feel this way or not, the stage is home for Skelton, making her a fierce contender for whatever she chooses to pursue after filming forthcoming British thriller Row. 

Five years ago, her fond feelings towards theatre were not nearly as potent. The actor envisioned a progression through film and television post-Outlander, surprising herself with the desire to reclaim all that came before. 

“Are you going to, you know, rest?” I ask Skelton. She laughs, subtly shifting her gaze side to side then up and down as if a greater power might be scolding her from outside her Zoom square. “In theory I would love to go sit on a beach. I just know I would be antsy to get back to work.” Not to fret—the actress exercises self-care, on a small scale, everyday. She’s better when she’s busy and avoids lazy-adjacent behaviors like the plague. Skelton’s determination is unsurprising; there is something respectful and intentional about the way she answers my questions, even the lighter ones. I reckon that each person she works with is made to feel important. This too seems typical of her responsiveness—an openness to the traditional and conventional, but more importantly to all things wild and random. 

When I think about dust settling on the actress’s beloved TV escapade as she thrusts forward, I envision her arrival in Scotland as a brand new adult, and how youth is simultaneously so easy and ridiculously hard. To be twenty-something is to reject the constancy of childhood and grow rich from its absence. Skelton did just this—for herself and for Brianna: two women that fans (and Skelton herself) can always look up to.

All seasons of Outlander, including 7 part 2, are available to stream on MGM+ in the UK and Starz in the US now.

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Photographed by Lee Malone 

Styled by Karen Clarkson at The Wall Group

Written by Anya Wareck

Hair: Miguel Perez at Forward Artists

Makeup: Lucy Wearing at Forward Artists

Stylist Assistant: Maïlys Pereira