Outlander's Sophie Skelton shares ‘disturbing’ moment shooting new role

One of Outlander’s leading stars has revealed details about their exciting new film project beyond the beloved Starz series, following the recent release of season eight’s trailer and another cast member securing a role in a gripping new series, reports the Daily Record.

British performer Sophie Skelton, adored by countless fans for portraying Brianna MacKenzie, embraces a dramatically different character from the time-hopping engineer in her latest psychological thriller Row.

The Raindance award-winning production follows a transatlantic rowing crew attempting to shatter the world record, only for their voyage to conclude catastrophically with a traumatised lone survivor, Megan (portrayed by Bella Dayne), who attempts to reconstruct events despite suffering memory loss whilst proving her innocence regarding their deaths.

Row additionally features Murderbot’s Akshay Khanna, Before We Die’s Mark Strepan, and Ghost Keeper’s Nick Skaugen.

Speaking exclusively to Reach Screen Time, the 31 year old performer discussed embracing the role of resilient yet carefree sailor Lexi: “I think the main thing was just the difference of the character. I’ve always played very strong characters, which Lexi is but her strengths come out in a very different way.”

She continued: “It was just so fun to do something so taxing physically.”

The part demanded the Woodford, Greater Manchester native master rowing techniques, with Skelton quipping that she alongside fellow cast members were “getting quite hench” from the demanding physical training. Another element that drew Skelton to the role was Lexi’s “carefree” and “hippie-dippy” personality, which provided a striking departure from her previous characters.

Filming occurred across several weeks at a derelict naval facility in John o’ Groats, Scotland, during the final stages of the Hollywood strikes.

The ensemble worked aboard an authentic transatlantic rowing vessel positioned within a specially constructed water tank perched on a clifftop, whilst certain sequences were captured on the open sea.

She characterised the filming experience as “rough and rugged”, with production even halting for a day owing to black mould contamination.

Whilst the performers didn’t endure the brutal conditions that sailors on transatlantic journeys typically face, including bloodied palms and near-frostbite situations, the cast did encounter sufficient hardship to authentically connect with their roles.

“We obviously didn’t get to explore the full sort of scope of that. But you do get to feel, to a point: what it’s like when you’re hungry; what it’s like to not be able to go to the loo; what it’s like to be relentlessly pelted with rain; your hands to just be blistered and sore; and just to be so cold your lips are chapped,” she detailed.

Skelton went on to compare Row to working on her hit TV show: “With Outlander, we’ve all known each other for so long that everything is second nature and whatever else. Whereas on this, we didn’t really have much time to get to know each other and even on the boat, there’s so much to get through.”

Nevertheless, they were united by the shared ordeal of filming in such a cramped environment, as well as having to relieve themselves in a communal bucket positioned at the rear of the vessel.

Skelton continued: “It was so different and luckily, I think I was so well prepared. I think everyone else was shocked at how bad Scottish can be. The only thing that was different was we were on a very low budget movie, independent.”

“I did 10 years of Outlander and we would complain about the weather. This was so scary. It was awful,” she remarked.

Furthermore, the actress revealed that Outlander offered far more adaptability than Row, permitting scenes to be moved indoors or providing weather protection when required.

“We did not have that luxury on this job, it’s very much like you get one take and you’ve got to move on,” she revealed.

Alongside the demanding nature of the shoot, which witnessed production halted on the opening day due to severe weather, Skelton suffered a car crash during the early stages.

Her motor “aquaplaned”, overturned and crashed through fencing whilst travelling to the set, causing two fractured ribs, a broken finger and whiplash.

Despite this, she persevered with filming for the following five weeks to finish the picture in 70mph gales on turbulent seas. At one stage, her character Lexi suffered a head wound during a tussle, with Skelton wearing a prosthetic injury fitted with a tube containing artificial blood.

She remembered emerging from hair and makeup one day sporting the prosthetic and being questioned by worried crew members about whether it resulted from the accident, prompting Skelton to assure them it was entirely fake.

“So it was a little strange walking around like that. It was a little disturbing for me and for other people,” she said.

Skelton is now fully booked on additional projects following the completion of Outlander’s eighth series, which is scheduled to broadcast early next year.

The actress described the conclusion of the programme as “bittersweet” and confessed there were numerous tears when filming ended.

Most recently, she finished working on the follow-up to I Can Only Imagine in Nashville, Tennessee, appearing alongside Dennis Quaid, Milo Ventimiglia and John Michael Finley.

She’s currently got several other films in development and is focusing on what lies ahead.

“I just like doing things that are very different from each other, like different accents,” she said, adding: “So we’ll see what’s next.”

ROW will be available on DVD & Digital platforms from September 29

Outlander: Blood of My Blood airs on Fridays on Starz in the USA and on Saturdays on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK

Outlander season 8 will air on Starz and MGM+ via Prime Video in early 2026