Caitriona Balfe is reflecting on what it was like to make the eighth and final season of Outlander.

The Starz series based on Diana Gabaldon‘s book series premiered in 2014 and will officially wrap in May with the series finale.

Caitriona, who plays series lead Claire Fraser, tells People that filming season 8 was “an emotionally taxing nine months.”

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She and co-star Sam Heughan, who plays Jaime Fraser, “felt so much responsibility to make it right, and everything felt heightened.”

“It was an emotionally taxing nine months,” she says of filming.

“We all went and did something right after,” Caitriona says regarding what the cast did after they wrapped and their need to decompress.

“I went off and did a retreat, and [Heughan] went and climbed the Himalayas,” the Belfast star reveals. “Sophie [Skelton] went to Africa, Richard [Rankin] learned how to fly. I think we all had that initial … I wouldn’t say exorcist, but it’s like that [process] of releasing it.”

In short, they all needed to take some time off.

“Because I think you do — well, at least for me, I’ll speak for myself — but I wanted to process it and I wanted to honor the experience of the character by letting it go, in a healthy way,” she shared. “I don’t know, I think you can maybe make yourself a bit mad sometimes if you don’t sit in the experience for a while.”

Keep up with every show coming to an end in 2026.