Izzy Meikle-Small: Nurse Rachel Hunter experiences war, romance in ‘Outlander’ S7

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Joey Phillips (L) and Izzy Meikle-Small can be seen in “Outlander” Season 7. Photo courtesy of Starz
NEW YORK, July 14 (UPI) — Izzy Meikle-Small says her character, Rachel, is a Quaker woman whose world is turned upside down in Season 7 of the time-travel romance, Outlander. “Rachel is very kind, very loyal, very smart. You kind of see her become a woman over the course of the season,” Meikle-Small told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. Advertisement
“She’s really coming of age and going out into the world and experiencing war, and she’s meeting boys for the first time.”
The 27-year-old said Rachel goes on an “amazing journey.”
“We see this cheeky side of her and she is feisty and doesn’t mince her words. She is very independent and strong and a joy to play,” Meikle-Small said.
Airing Friday nights on Starz, the screen adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s best-selling novels is set in North Carolina in the 18th century, on the brink of the American Revolution.
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At the heart of the story is former Scottish warrior Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan) — now allied with the colonists against the British — and his English-born wife, Claire (Caitriona Balfe), who has the ability to magically transport back and forth to Jamie’s time and space from the 20th century.
Siblings Rachel and Denzell Hunter (Joey Phillips) join the story this season and immediately interact with the Frasers.
“They are such kind, lovely people and i think, being Quakers, they are very devout in their faith and want to do as much good as they can in the world,” Phillips said of Rachel and Denzell.
“It’s really interesting that conflict that they both go through, being kicked out of the Quaker meeting and thrust into this world of violence and war and how they navigate through that.”
Denzell feels guilty about taking Rachel out of her sheltered existence and putting her in so much peril, because he believes helping the sick and injured is the right thing to do, even though many of his fellow pacifist Quakers felt they should not participate in the war in any way.
“He has brought Rachel into this dangerous world,” Phillips said, adding Denzell has a special relationship with his sister and wonders whether their sacrifices will be worth it in the end.
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The Quaker doctor also has a close connection to Claire, who trained as a surgeon in the 1960s, and then brought her knowledge back to the more primitive era of the late 1770s.
“I love that he is one of the first men in the medical field to give Claire the respect she deserves,” Phillips said.
“She’s so brilliant and so often is so underappreciated. I think Denzell — absolutely from the moment he meets her — is on the same level. There is such a deep respect between the two of them and, to get to work as a team with Claire and Caitriona, has been such a dream.”
Rachel also has a positive relationship with Claire.
“The two of them are very similar people and they see that in each other. They have a lot of love for each other,” Meikle-Small said.
“I am working at the hospital with them as a nurse,” she added. “We spend a lot of time together in these hospital camps. Because we are orphans, Claire is a motherly figure, and she kind of takes us under her wing.”
The pair sees less of Jamie as the war begins in earnest after a lengthy lead-up of skirmishes.
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“He’s off fighting battles,” Meikle-Small said about Claire’s husband.
“And we’re in the tents,” Phillips chimed in.
Understandably, the stars were nervous about joining such a beloved series so late in its run.
“When we first got the jobs, we were, obviously, elated, super-excited,” Meikle-Small said.
“Then you realize it is such a big show with such a pre-existing fan base, you are like: ‘I feel pressure. I want to do justice to these characters. i want to make people proud to see their favorite characters on the screen.'”
Phillips added, “It’s been so incredible, sort of the outpouring of support that we’ve felt from the fans. As Izzy said, there were nerves at the start. [But] it just felt like we fit in really easily.”
The show completed its COVID-19 pandemic-abbreviated sixth season in May 2022 and returned for Season 7 last month.
Co-starring Richard Rankin and Sophie Skelton, it has already been renewed for an eighth and final season.
A prequel series about Jamie’s parents is also in the works.