TV Shows & Movies With ‘Outlander’ Star Caitriona Balfe, Including ‘The Devil Wears Prada’

- Outlander -
TV Shows & Movies With ‘Outlander’ Star Caitriona Balfe, Including ‘The Devil Wears Prada’

By and large, Caitriona Balfe is known the world over for playing Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser on Starz’ Outlander adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s best-selling series of novels.

Starring as a 20th century World War II combat nurse who travels back in time to 18th century Scotland, Balfe has led the historical romance for the past five seasons, winning two People’s Choice Awards, a BAFTA Scotland Award for best actress on television, an Irish Film and Television Award, and receiving four Golden Globe nominations for best actress in a drama.

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But before she nailed her chemistry test with Sam Heughan and became La Dame Blanche of Outlander, Balfe hit the catwalk for nearly a decade after being discovered while studying acting at the Dublin Institute of Technology.

The fourth child of five from County Monaghan in Northern Island, Balfe became Ireland’s first supermodel, as dubbed by the Irish Independent. Traveling the world from Paris and Milan to Tokyo and eventually New York, Balfe walked the runways of many before leaving the modeling business behind at 29, and moving to Los Angeles full-time to pursue acting full speed ahead.

Over the course of her career, Balfe has popped up in shorts, documentaries, web series, and Oscar-nominated movies, and I decided to take a look back at them all, through the stones... of my keyboard.

The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

Right up that “Runway” alley, Balfe appeared as an uncredited clacker stomping her heels up and down the hallowed halls of Miranda Priestly’s revered fashion magazine, Runway. While she doesn’t receive official credit here to be listed on her IMDb page, the role suits Balfe as a natural transition from modeling to acting, as fashion is at the center of Aline Brosh McKenna’s script

Where to watch: Amazon Prime

A Herculean Effort (2009)

In one of Balfe’s early short roles, she plays Emily, a girl who just wants to help her boyfriend James groom himself, by means of pimple popping while getting ready for bed. I guess that's some worthy foreshadowing for tending to the wounds of soldiers and Highlanders on Outlander.

Where to watch: Vimeo

Super 8 (2011)

As Balfe told Irish Independent, director J.J. Abrams pushed for her to appear in his sci-fi thriller and convinced Paramount to secure her a visa. “He really went to bat for me, which was amazing considering it wasn't even a speaking role," she said.

Balfe plays Elizabeth Lamb, whose character in effect is the kickoff point for the film’s drama, as she dies in a workplace accident and leaves her son, Joe (Joel Courtney) and husband, Jackson (Kyle Chandler), behind. We see glimpses of her on vintage camera footage Joe watches to remember her.

Where to watch: Hulu

LustLife (2011)

Living her best life in the City of Lights a la Emily in Paris, *Caitriona* in Paris is the main object of affection in this short film that is shot in both English and French. Followed around by the protagonist of the movie who is searching for her own sense of joie de vivre, Balfe works as a waitress and makes her day when she invites her to hang out after work.

Where to watch: YouTube

The Wolf (2011)

Balfe is quite the heartbreaker in this short. When her boyfriend Charlie comes over with flowers in hand, he is distraught to find "a Jersey Shore extra" climbing out her bedroom window. She comes outside, confessing that she doesn’t love him anymore, dashing his dreams of a wedding and kids. He turns to “The Wolf” to heal the pain.

Where to watch: YouTube and Vimeo

The Beauty Inside (2012)

Narrated by Topher Grace, The Beauty Inside was seen through the eyes of Alex as he woke up in a new body every day of his life, for as long as he could remember. Along with Matthew Gray Gubler, Balfe played one of the many Alex’s, Alex #34 to be specific. The six-episode web series won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding New Approach to an Original Daytime Program or Series.

Where to watch: IMDb

Lost Angeles (2012)

This indie seems to have been lost to the internet abyss, but featured Balfe as Veronique in a story that, according to IMDb, traces a homeless convict as he “is released from jail and comes to Los Angeles where he passes himself off as a legitimate photographer and becomes embroiled in a world of celebrity and sleaze.”

Crush (2013)

In a much creepier turn than we normally see Balfe, she stars as Andie alongside Lucas Till and Crystal Reed in this very stalkerish film about a crush that goes just a tad too far.

Where to watch: Amazon Prime

Now You See Me (2013)

Balfe makes a cameo in the film about a team of vigilante magicians, the Four Horsemen, who complete heists around the world and reward the audiences at their shows with the moolah. She plays Jasmine Tessler, the young wife of Michael Caine’s Arthur Tressler.

Where to watch: Starz

Escape Plan (2013)

Shooting Escape Plan with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone was a real highlight for Balfe, as she played CIA operative Jessica Miller who recruits Stallone’s Ray Breslin. When he finds himself locked up, he and Schwarzenegger look for a way to break out together. But plot twist: Balfe turns out to be Schwarzenegger’s daughter in the end.

Speaking to Irish Independent, Balfe was pinching herself on set, as at one point she was “on a beach in Louisiana with Arnold and Sylvester and they're hilarious and being so friendly and I'm pretty much dumbfounded. I was standing in the middle of Arnie and Sly, how'd you get your head around that?"

Where to watch: Amazon

H+: The Digital Series (2012-2013)

H+ marked Balfe's first major starring role in a series. Set in a dystopian future, humans have “a new way to connect to the internet” via an H+ neural implant that keeps them online 24/7. Balfe’s character, Breanna Sheehan, is an executive of the Irish biotech company that made the neural implant and is often the face of the product.

But then a virus decimates the majority of the human race (quite touchy for the moment, but alrighty then), and the web show flashes forwards and backwards to unspool what happened. Quite the technological about-face from Outlander when she brings needles and penicillin back from 20th century Boston to a reluctant Jamie at Lallybroch in Season 3.

Where to watch: YouTube

The Price of Desire (2015)

Balfe pops up as Gabrielle Bloch in this period piece seeking to reveal the truth of Eileen Gray’s authorship for her architectural and design work rather than have her contributions entirely effaced from history.

Where to watch: Amazon

Money Monster (2016)

When financial television personality Lee Gates (George Clooney) is held at gunpoint on his own show, Money Monster, he seeks to right the wrongs of the gunmen (Jack O’Connell)’s investment gone astray. After putting his whole life savings of $60,000 into IBIS in the film, his money is wiped out along with that of the other investors. Caitriona Balfe’s Diane Lester, the chief of communications for IBIS, is tasked with finding some answers in an all-star cast including Dominic West and Julia Roberts.

Where to watch: Amazon

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (2019)

You might not have seen Balfe in this Netflix fantasy series, but you definitely heard her voice the warrior princess Tavra alongside her sisters Seladon (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and Brea (Anya Taylor-Joy). Born as “Katavra,” she often imparts words of wisdom to her fellow Gelflings. Sadly, The Dark Crystal prequel series was canceled before it was picked up for a second season — even after a Creative Arts Emmy win for Outstanding Children's Program.

Where to watch: Netflix

Ford v Ferrari (2019)

Nominated for four Oscars, including best picture, Ford v Ferrari sees American car designer Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and driver Ken Miles (Christian Bale) team up to compete at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans and help Ford defeat Ferrari. Balfe plays Mollie Miles, Ken’s devoted wife who fears for his safety and security of the family.

Where to watch: Amazon

While we always have Season 6 of Outlander to look forward to, the next film Balfe is set to appear in is Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast in 2021 with Jamie Dornan and Judi Dench.

Image: 20th Century Fox

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