OUTLANDER Season 4 Casting: Stephen Bonnet and Jocasta Cameron!

STARZ announced two new cast members today who will play major roles in OUTLANDER Season 4 (and hopefully in future seasons as well!)

Ed Speleers will play Stephen Bonnet, and Maria Doyle Kennedy will play Jamie's aunt, Jocasta Cameron.

After all the unknown (to me) actors they've cast so far, I'm pleasantly surprised that I've seen both Ed Speleers and Maria Doyle Kennedy in other roles.  I liked them both very much.

I was thoroughly addicted to DOWNTON ABBEY throughout its run, and the idea of that sweet-faced, innocent-looking young man who played Jimmy on DOWNTON turning into "our Stephen" is a little hard to imagine. But what a great opportunity for him to play Something Completely Different!

As for Maria Doyle Kennedy, she made a good impression on me from THE TUDORS, though I haven't seen her in anything else. [Update 10/12/2017: That's not true. In fact, as several people have pointed out to me, she played the late, unlamented Vera Bates on DOWNTON.]

Having played Catherine of Aragon, Kennedy will have no trouble carrying herself like a Great Lady <g>, though I'm sure Jocasta's blindness will be an interesting challenge for her as an actress. According to IMDB, she just turned 53, so she's a dozen years or so younger than Jocasta was in DRUMS OF AUTUMN, but that doesn't bother me. I'm sure the makeup people will do a great job in aging her up appropriately.