‘Outlander’: Stanley Weber Talks Playing Comte St. Germain

Claire and Jamie
Fraser may be attempting to rewrite history on “Outlander,” but they
made an enemy not long after reaching French soil.

While Jamie made
plans to take over his cousin Jared Fraser’s
wine business temporarily in the “Outlander” Season 2 premiere,
Claire went for a walk on the docks. After spotting a seaman being carried in a
makeshift gurney off of a ship, she followed and later diagnosed him, and
another man who perished, with smallpox (within
earshot of a crowd that had gathered due to the commotion). The public nature
of the diagnosis left the authorities no choice – they were forced to set fire to a large ship and destroy
all of the goods inside its hulls to prevent
an outbreak.

Comte St.
Germain, played by actor Stanley Weber, owned the ship and its cargo, and the
nobleman told Claire and her husband, “You’ll pay a price. You’ll both pay,”
setting him up as a new foe for the Frasers.

WATCH: ‘Outlander’: Stanley Weber & More Talk Comte St. Germain

“As
far as I’m concerned, from my point of view, he’s not a villain. He’s just like
part of the court. He’s trying to do his best to have a good business going on
and when Jamie and Claire come around, they mess up his day, really,”
Stanley told Access Hollywood, when we visited the “Outlander” set in
Scotland during production, and asked if he considered his character a villain.
“Because of her, his boat is going to burn and everything, and he’s going
to lose a lot of money. Then, of course, he’s going to do a couple of bad
things to try to have [his] revenge, but I can’t — I mean, in my head, when I’m
playing someone, I can’t be like, ‘I’m being a villain.’ I’m just like being
myself. I’m trying to be a human being first.”

Despite
telling the Frasers they would
“pay,” Stanley made a positive splash with many “Outlander”
fans in his series debut, and they can thank the folks behind the scenes for
bringing him in to read for Comte St. Germain.

PHOTOS: ‘Outlander’ Season 2, Episode 2 — ‘Not In Scotland Anymore’

“We
were having kind of trouble finding someone for the Comte because I think the
initial description of the Comte that we put out might have kind of aged the
Comte up a little bit,” “Outlander” Executive Producer Maril
Davis told Access on the Scotland set. “I think we all also had different
ideas [about] what the Comte would look like.”

The
producer said Stanley first auditioned for another role, but she suggested they
bring him back to read for the Comte.

“As
soon as he did it, we just kind of knew and he’s so amazing and he’s such a
lovely guy in person, but he’s so evil and diabolical on set, so he’s
great,” Maril said.

Caitriona
Balfe, who plays Claire, also sang Stanley’s praises.

WATCH: ‘Outlander’ Stars On Their Characters’ Signature Season 2 Cocktails!

“He’s
incredible as monsieur le Comte,” Caitriona said. “And the fans are
going to love him because he’s a bad boy and he’s easy on the eye. But he’s an
incredible actor. I think we were very lucky that we got him.”

Back
in June, it was first announced that Stanley had been cast in the role, and the
actor, who is on social media, said many fans were “really welcoming” right away. And, he quickly
threw himself into work.

“I
was just very happy to be on board, and to come on board, and just was willing
to do the best to have a good performance and [I tried] to picture the guy in a
way that would be unexpected, but still faithful to the book and the story
line,” he told Access.

“Outlander”
continues Saturdays at 9 PM ET/PT on Starz.

Production assistance provided by Starz.

Jolie Lash

Copyright © 2024 by NBC Universal, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

This material may not be republished, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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