LOTTE VERBEEK CAST AS GEILLIS DUNCAN IN STARZ & SONY PICTURES TV’S “OUTLANDER”
From “Battlestar Galactica” Executive Producer Ronald D. Moore
Beverly Hills, Calif., October 16, 2013
–
Starz in association with Sony Pictures Television has announced today that Lotte Verbeek (“The Borgias,”
Left) will play the role of Geillis Duncan in the original series “Outlander.” The series,
adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books by Ronald D. Moore (“Battlestar Galactica,” “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation”),
is currently filming on location in Scotland and is set to premiere on STARZ in 2014.
The “Outlander”
series spans the genres of romance, science fiction, history,
and adventure in one epic tale. It follows the story of Claire Randall,
a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time
to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where
her life is threatened. When she is forced
to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish
warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire’s heart
between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
The
enigmatic Geillis
Duncan,
wife
of
the
procurator
fiscal,
is
an integral
part
of
the Outlander
storyline.
Commonly referred
to as
a witch,
due
to her
advanced
knowledge
of
herbs
and plants,
Geillis
is
a beautiful,
dark
presence
in
the
village outside Castle Leoch.
Many fear
her, but
come to
her secretly
when
they
need
assistance
with medical matters
that most
doctors of
the time
would shun. Geillis has
mastered the art of manipulation and uses it to bend others, including
her own husband, to her will. She and Claire share an immediate
connection and Geillis becomes a friend to Claire
in a time and place where she is seen as an outsider.
Verbeek has most recently been seen in Showtime’s “The Borgias” as the ravishing mistress of the Pope, Guilia Farnese,
opposite Jeremy Irons. In 2009, she earned a European Academy Award Best Actress nomination, for her performance in
Nothing Personal opposite Stephen Rea. In addition, she was also
chosen as one of Europe’s Shooting Stars and won the Best Actress Award
at the International Film Festivals of Locarno and Marrakech, and
nominated for the National Dutch Film Award, Golden
Calf, for Best Actress. She also won the Best Actress Award at the
Monte Carlo TV Film Festival for her work in Italian mini-series “The
Queens of Swing.” In 2007, she won her first leading role in a feature
film,
Left, in which she played five different characters. The film was
awarded a Silver Melies in Sweden. She is currently working on the Fox
2000 Pictures studio feature film
The Fault in our Stars as Lidewij, an assistant to a character played by Harrison Ford.
She is a graduate of the Amsterdam Academy of Dramatic Arts, as well as the Amsterdam Academy of Jazz/Musical Theatre and Dance.
Verbeek
joins previously announced cast members Caitriona Balfe (Claire
Randall), Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser), Tobias Menzies (Frank
Randall/Jonathan “Black
Jack” Randall), Graham McTavish (Dougal MacKenzie), Gary Lewis (Colum
MacKenzie), Duncan Lacroix (Murtagh Fitzgibbons Fraser), Annette Badland
(Mrs. FitzGibbons)
and Stephen Walters (Angus Mhor).
Diana Gabaldon’s seven-book series has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide and has graced the
New York Times best-sellers list six times. The eighth installment of the “Outlander” series is slated to be released in the spring of 2014.
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