Outlander’s Charles Vandervaart & Carla Woodcock Dish on William and Amaranthus’ Romance

Outlander is certainly no stranger to romance, but not all storylines are as controversial as William and Amaranthus’s.

Outlander Season 8 quickly introduced Carla Woodcock as Amaranthus, setting her up as the husband of William’s potentially deceased cousin, Ben, and someone for him to open up to.

Woodcock and Charles Vandervaart chatted with TV Fanatic about their characters, their love story, and where they can see the storylines going.

TV Fanatic: Outlander book fans can be a little vicious on some of the female characters. Please tell me they’ve been nice to you!

Carla Woodcock: They have. They’ve all been very welcoming and very nice.

I was a bit apprehensive about doing the character justice, and because it’s the last season. It means so much to the fans and also to us as actors.

I think it’s been really nice, so I’ve been really lucky.

Amaranthus is one of the polarizing characters in the book and on the show. There is something going on, so what’s it been like for you to play all these layers?

Woodcock: It’s so fun. Playing a complex character is any actor’s dream. With Amaranthus, there’s always something beneath the surface, even though I do think she does not have malicious intentions.

I think she does, for example, have a genuine connection with William.

She’s very smart, very ambitious, and a strong woman. She’s a survivor, and she’s giving her son the best life that she possibly can.

There are a lot of layers there, which is really fun, and it’s the type of role that I haven’t played before, so I love that.

Charles, the last time we spoke was just before Outlander Season 7! Now that William knows the truth, what’s it been like for you to play it?

Charles Vandervaart: Oh my goodness, what a roller coaster! To say he’s handled it badly, yeah!

His entire sense of identity was wrapped up in his title as a lord, and I actually think that his meeting Amaranthus has been such a great opportunity for him.

Amaranthus doesn’t see titles as who someone is. She says that she sees titles as something that you have. It’s not necessarily the whole story.

That is maybe getting through to William that he can be more than just his title, his illegitimate title.

I also think that Brianna is going to be a huge help for William in figuring out who he is, because she essentially went through the same thing. She’s on the other side of it, having a very good relationship with Jamie. 

Maybe he can grow from this and come out of it a better person. I don’t think he was the greatest person at the beginning of all this, so he had to experience all this pain to come out of it a decent guy. That’s my hope for him, that he becomes a decent guy.

I love how Amaranthus is jealous of Brianna, and William is like, “She’s my sister!” Did you two plan that scene out to prepare, or just go with the feelings?

Woodcock: I think we were lucky that we had a good amount of rehearsal time for that scene with the director, Metin Hüseyin, so we were able to work out the logistics of the scene and the blocking.

When it came down to filming, we could just focus purely on the emotion and the conversation between the two of them. It was really fun.

I think it’s nice that there’s a little bit of jealousy in Amaranthus because she’s saying, “I like you.”

Vandervaart: There’s some mutual vulnerability in that scene. It’s not super-fetched for William to have feelings for his sister, given his track record, so it was good to clear that up.

We won’t bring up the Jane topic right now.

Vandervaart: Yeah, there we go.

You both have such a strong connection, and we can feel it through the screen. What do you think it’s like for both of them to find each other? I think they both needed each other.

Vandervaart: Yeah, I think so. From William’s point of view, he needed to learn that there’s more innate value in a person beyond their titles.

Amaranthus is a very good example of that. She cares for you, and she doesn’t necessarily value people based on where they sit in the hierarchy. I think they have a really beautiful relationship.

They can both heal or recover from this mutual trauma that they have, which is the passing of my cousin and her husband.

Woodcock: In a lot of ways, our characters are outsiders. Mine doesn’t come from nobility and wealth, and she’s now in this world, which she’s not really familiar with. She’s on her own.

William’s whole world has just been rocked and flipped upside down, so he feels maybe on the outside now, knowing his true lineage and parentage. 

It’s nice that they have each other throughout that, and they have each other’s backs a little bit. They have each other for that emotional support.

Charles, since you brought up Ben. This romance does feel a little fast. What have the conversations been like between the two of you and the writers and director to make it believable?

Vandervaart: I think that for William, there’s a level of guilt that he’s experiencing among all of this, and that’s why he’s a little bit apprehensive when experiencing romantic feelings with Amaranthus.

He knows that this is his cousin’s wife, a cousin he has always looked up to and who is a role model in his life.

He’s the reason he decided to take the path that he did in the military, and there’s a seed of doubt in William’s mind as to whether or not his cousin is actually truly dead.

That charges the relationship. It’s scandalous, and I think he carries guilt in that way. But the heart wants what the heart wants.

Woodcock: It does move quickly, but I think that’s part of Amaranthus wanting to be with this guy. She’s locking him in.

She knows what she wants.

Woodcock: Yeah, so she is getting it.

Is there anything that you can tease the fans about things to come?

Woodcock: I think that as Amaranthus and William’s relationship develops. Also, as we’ve established, she’s the widow of his cousin, and there is going to be a certain level of fallout from that dynamic.

Vandervaart: There are a lot of unknowns, and a lot of things that haven’t quite been tied up. I totally agree that the fallout from the death of my cousin is going to make waves, and that hasn’t been fully addressed yet.

I was talking to Matt [Roberts] and Maril [Davis] about storylines not being fully wrapped up, so maybe a William and Amaranthus spinoff?

Vandervaart: Yes!

Woodcock: Let’s go! Let’s make it happen!

You can check out the entire interview below and see just how much they’re into the idea of a spinoff:

Outlander Season 8 airs on Fridays on Starz.

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