‘Outlander’ Season 3 Cast, Spoilers: Dunsany Sisters Introduced; Sam Heughan Talks Missing Co-Star Caitriona Balfe

‘Outlander’ season 3 is set to introduce the Dunsany sisters, Geneva and Isobel. Meanwhile, lead actor Sam Heughan revealed that he missed co-star Caitriona Balfe during filming of the incoming season.

According to Variety, season 3 will introduce the Dunsany sisters played by Hannah James and Tanya Reynolds. James is a British-American actress known for PBS’ period medical drama miniseries “Mercy Street”, which is set during the American Civil War. Reynolds is an English actress known for her work on the upcoming film ‘Fanny Lye Deliver’d’.

James will play the eldest Dunsany daughter, a “beautiful and headstrong” girl and is known for her sharp tongue and recklessness. She is accustomed to getting what she wants and is quite impulsive.

According to the description on Outlander TV News, Geneva is the second child of Lord William and Lady Louisa Dunsany of the Helwater estate. She was raised alongside her older brother, Gordon, and younger sister, Isobel. Following Gordon’s death during the Battle of Prestonpans on the Jacobite Rising of 1745, Lord and Lady Dunsany spoiled their remaining daughters even more.

Geneva is then forced to marry the elderly Earl of Ellesmere at the young age of seventeen but is very unhappy with the arrangement. In the original novels by Diana Gabaldon, she blackmails Jamie into sleeping with her, which resulted in their illegitimate child William Ransom.

Reynolds is set to play Geneva’s younger sister Isobel. Although she is more likeable and compassionate than Geneva, she is also known to be more ordinary. Following her sister’s death, Isobel is devastated but cares for her nephew William. She also becomes the wife of Lord John Grey.

Meanwhile, Sam Heughan talked about the upcoming third season of the historical time travel television series during an interview with Vanity Fair. When asked to address the changes done in the series, which were not in the original books, Heughan explained, “Diana is all over this. I mean, I have constant e-mail updates, several times a day, about things she’s watched or things she’s read. We confer a lot, probably more than the producers want us to.”

He continued, “There’s always going to be little details that will be missed because the show is only an hour-long episode each week. I know myself and Caitriona, we read the books and if we can sneak in a small detail that may not be in the script or even just that we know ourselves, that going from one scene to another, that something's happened in between that maybe we haven't been able to show, but at least we know it and, hopefully, in some way it manifests itself.”

The 36-year old star also admitted that it was difficult not having co-star Caitriona Balfe around to film much of season 3 with him. He said, “Honestly, it’s like having a death in the family. Well, I don’t know, I mean, it’s just like a different show. It’s hard to separate yourself from the character.”

He continued, “Jamie’s present, living in his world, and Claire’s present and living in her world, and they both believe the other is dead. It’s always hard when we’re apart, actually, because she’s a great person, great to come to work with, and a very good actress. But I think it all adds to the reunion—if there’s a reunion, or when there’s a reunion—well you know there’s one in the books. It should be very special.”

‘Outlander’ season 3 is currently in production and is scheduled to return to Starz sometime in 2017.