Tom Christie is alive. His fast wits saved him in a lot the identical means they labored to free Claire Fraser, saving her life.
Throughout a current press day, we had the possibility to talk with Mark Lewis Jones about Tom’s motivations and what it was like enjoying the enigmatic character who has fallen deeply in love with Claire.
He shared many nice insights in regards to the story and the complexities of Tom Christie. I hope you benefit from the dialog.
Tom Christie is a really advanced man with a really sturdy ethical code. How did that play into giving his life in alternate for Claire’s?
Yeah. It is a huge journey, is not it?
It’s.
From the place we first meet Tom to the place we find yourself. I assume you do it little by little, and it is a very sluggish reveal. These scenes in Sequence Six are nice enjoyable to play, although he comes throughout as a really unlikable character and no one can heat to him, and he is extremely strict and pious and self-willed and cussed and all that.
They’re really nice enjoyable to play these scenes.
Oh, certain.
As a result of the factor that I actually cherished about them was that the writers had at all times put factors of vulnerability in there, which in fact, he tries to hide, however in the event you look again at even the primary time he meets Claire and when he reads the e-book Tom Jones, and the operation and fainting and screaming with ache, and making an attempt to whip Malva, however his hand’s not working.
All that stuff was nice to play, and the payoff, I assume, is that you just get to that place of vulnerability, real vulnerability.
By the point we get to the start of [Outlander Season 7], you get the actual Tom, the susceptible Tom, the Tom that feels love, real love, and is ready to sacrifice himself on behalf of one other.
It is nearly like he was dragged kicking and screaming into this new place in his life the place he is open to that vulnerability.
Oh, fully. That is all regardless of himself. He has no selection within the matter. He is fought this tooth and nail — all his life in all probability, however actually since he is met Claire. He did not wish to give in to any of this.
I believe Tom noticed his life as a single man making an attempt to maintain these two kids in some form of form and spending most of his life studying the Bible and going to church and making an attempt to verify others did and maintaining the neighborhood as a God-fearing neighborhood round him.
That did not work in any respect. The ghosts of his previous come to revisit, and he finds himself on a journey with Claire as her protector. There is a shift, is not there? There’s an actual transformation, an enormous transformation. We see the actual Tom emerge by the point we get to the ship, and that reveal is the actual Tom, however he is fought this tooth and nail.
That is in opposition to his greatest needs. I believe he genuinely thinks that the very best factor for him is to stay a servant of God, a God-fearing particular person, and he can not do it. So for him to be, I assume, liberated from all of that’s actually form of touching. The actual Tom is an excellent factor, actually, and I assume it is the factor he most feared.
His ideas on Jamie and the way he seen him as a person had been what introduced him to Fraser’s Ridge in Outlander Season 6, and he is now received this fully totally different view of Claire. How does he view these two as a pair, and the way he then suits into their life in that framework?
Effectively, his relationship with Jamie, as we all know from the beginning, is antagonistic. Jamie appears to command all this respect. He has this pure skill round males. If he performed a sport, he can be the pure captain, and these males really feel such respect for him.
So I assume when he involves Fraser’s Ridge for the primary time after we have seen him and seen the antagonism between them, it is no shock, I assume, to Tom that he has this extraordinary spouse. I believe the factor that basically throws Tom is for this man and lady to have an equal relationship. Tom’s by no means come throughout that.
He is had troublesome relationships the place he is had a relationship with a witch that he believes to be an actual factor, and to see Jamie and Claire as utterly in love but additionally equal to one another is a rare factor. I do not assume he is ever come throughout it.
So for Tom, that’s impenetrable, and when he is left alone with Claire, his emotions for her are past his management. Ultimately, he sacrifices himself in order that they are often collectively, which is a rare act of affection, is not it?
We additionally want to speak about Outlander Season 7 Episode 4, after we uncover he did not die, after which he runs into Claire, and so they have this wonderful dialog, the phrases from Tom of that are the title of the episode, “A Most Uncomfortable Lady.”
What was it like getting ready for that dialog and displaying this utterly totally different facet now of just about a joy-filled Tom? It is so totally different. You reworked.
Yeah. He has reworked, and he is gone by the fires of hell with a purpose to rework, actually. He is been cast. He is been cast into one other particular person — the actual Tom. The actual Tom has emerged, however that second after they stumble upon one another on the street in Windsor was nice enjoyable.
It is simply pretty to have all that actual gentler facet, the softer facet. There’s not a lot enjoyable in Tom Christie in Sequence Six. Definitely not from his perspective.
I imply, to see him screaming within the operation should be enjoyable for different individuals, particularly Jamie, however not for Tom himself. Tom would not have any pleasure in his life actually till we begin to see him now. He would not have any pleasure in any respect. It is a joyless life, and it is form of designed to be such, but it surely would not work.
It would not work as a result of he has a chilly coronary heart, or no less than that is how he presents himself. So having these lighter, extra intimate, extra susceptible scenes to play is great. It is a completely totally different facet of the identical particular person.
After which we additionally discover out that Tom is integral in a few of Outlander’s puzzles, reminiscent of inserting the obituary for his or her loss of life, which shocked me.
He felt so keenly that folks wanted to know what occurred to those great people who he positioned an obituary. What does that really feel wish to have such a spot in Outlander historical past?
I do know. Oh, it is great. I am so thrilled to be a part of the entire Outlander household and story.
Tom would not come into it till Sequence Six, however he’s so integral to an enormous chunk of it, is not he, because the Christies are generally. Yeah, to put that obituary, it is a rare factor to do, is not it?
It’s.
Yeah. He form of tries to do, from the start, I believe, Tom tries to do the precise factor. For many of his time, he tries to do the precise factor. Jamie brings out the worst in him, however he does attempt to do the precise factor.
Constructing the church in Fraser’s Ridge is, for him, the precise factor to do. It is the right factor to do, and to write down that obituary, yeah, it is a rare factor. It is a rare act.
How do you think about Tom Christie’s life continues after this?
Effectively, he says himself that whereas she’s alive, he’ll by no means be free, or phrases to that impact. Definitely, that’s an ongoing downside for him, his timeless love for Claire. He can not help it, however I might say, although he is form of misplaced the whole lot, he is in a greater place in a means.
The truth that he is been capable of find these true emotions and be capable of voice them has to have some constructive impact on the remainder of his life. Tom has been trustworthy about what he actually feels, and he is additionally been capable of reveal the darkish bits of his historical past, so by being trustworthy, I believe he is been liberated.
Effectively, thanks a lot for speaking with me immediately, Mark. I believe he was a beautiful character, and I noticed the nuances in the best way that you just portrayed him. Effectively into Season 6, there was at all times that trace that one thing was going to occur that was going to show the tide. Oh, that is nice.
It was definitely worth the journey.
Thanks.
To compensate for all the most recent, try our Outlander episode information, and you’ll want to return right here weekly for opinions after every new episode after airing on Starz on Fridays at 8/7c.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a workers author and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s a member of the Critic’s Selection Affiliation, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of tv and movie with anybody who will pay attention. Observe her on Twitter and electronic mail her right here at TV Fanatic.
