“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, because I couldn’t keep it together,” she said.

Caitríona Balfe details the last scene she filmed with Sam Heughan for Outlander

“It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, because I couldn’t keep it together,” she said.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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May 8, 2026 12:03 p.m. ET

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Sam Heughan and Caitríona Mary Balfe on 'Outlander' season 8. Credit:

Robert Wilson/Starz

- Caitríona Balfe is remembering the final *Outlander* scene she filmed with Sam Heughan.

- The actress described it as "the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do," noting that she could barely keep it together during takes.

- "It hit me like a train — what a massive journey it had been, and the enormity of saying goodbye," she said.

Caitríona Balfe says filming her final *Outlander** *scene with Sam Heughan was by far “the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

The actress told *Elle* that she “couldn’t keep it together” while shooting the last moments between her character Claire and her husband Jamie (Heughan) for the “emotional” series finale, which airs on May 15.

“It didn’t really hit me ever when I was playing anything until our very last day,” Balfe told the outlet.

Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan on 'Outlander' season 8.

Robert Wilson/Starz

She continued, “The last scene that Sam and I filmed together in Jamie and Claire’s bedroom was a seven-page dialogue scene, and the stuff that we were saying to each other as we were saying it had all of these double meanings for our lives and the whole experience, saying goodbye to Claire and the whole thing.”

Balfe admitted that she found it difficult to even get through the scene as she came to terms with saying goodbye to a series that she and Heughan had headlined together for over a decade.

**“**It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do, because I couldn’t keep it together,” she said. “I was so emotional. It hit me like a train — what a massive journey it had been, and the enormity of saying goodbye.”

The *Belfast* star noted that she expects longtime fans of the series will find it equally difficult to part ways with Jamie and Claire even after the final credits roll. “I think it will remain a constant in our lives for a long time,” Balfe said. “What a gift to have been given.”

'Outlander' stars Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan frolic in EW's cover shoot (exclusive)

One last twist of fate: Inside the final season of 'Outlander'

*Outlander* premiered its first season in 2014, which followed a young woman named Claire (Balfe) as she unexpectedly travels back in time to the 18th century. It’s there that she meets Jamie (Heughan), and the pair strike up a romance that tests time and fate.

In 2023, Starz announced that the historical drama had been renewed for its eighth and final season. How it all ends, however, has been kept under tight wraps by its creative team, with executive producer Matthew B. Roberts telling ** that they shot multiple endings to give themselves options during the editing process and to avoid spoilers.

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"There's a small handful of people that have seen it all the way through," he said at the time. "I think keeping it close to the vest and a surprise to a lot of people made it a little more special."

But to make them work, Roberts said he made sure each of these various endings felt as true to the series as possible. “They all could have been the ending, and that's why people believed them," he added.

Fans will have to see just how *Outlander* ends when the series finale airs May 15 on Starz.

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