Branagh’s film centres on Buddy, an ebullient nine-year-old from a Protestant family, played by Jude Hill. His Pa (Jamie Dornan) works as a joiner in England, as Branagh’s own father did, while his Ma (Balfe) does everything else back home. It’s set in 1969, just as barricades are appearing on streets in Belfast, separating Catholics and Protestants who had previously lived cordially enough as neighbours. Pa wants the family to relocate to England or Canada or Australia, where the work and the money are, but Ma is more resistant, wanting to stick with their friends and Buddy’s grandparents (Judi Dench and Ciarán Hinds).
This might sound like a bleak premise, but Belfast is one of the warmest, most charming films you will see this year. Soundtracked by Van Morrison, there is nostalgia here, but also a recognition that, however grim the Troubles became, there was also warmth, generosity and even remorse about what was happening.
“It’s strange, because obviously some of the material is so heavy, but because it’s done through the eyes of a child it never feels that way,” Balfe says. “It’s so joyous, you come out of that movie just feeling… full.”
Branagh was keen to enlist actors who would bring a personal resonance to the film: Dornan and Hinds are from Belfast; Dench’s mother was from Dublin. The first time they came together, Branagh encouraged them to share tales of their own parents and upbringings. “So I’m not thinking of Judi Dench as Dame Judi Dench, the titan of acting, but I’m thinking of the little girl and her stories,” says Balfe. “It just levels everybody. And I think we all understand something of each other – all of us have left our home and not returned.”
Balfe’s Ma is loving but fierce, with a wit and pragmatism that ensures the film doesn’t drift into schmaltz. “To Ma she brings a generosity of spirit that makes the character engage the audience without being ingratiating,” says Branagh. “The other quality she had that was certainly present in my mother – probably everyone’s mother? – was a ferocity of passion when protecting her young. You would not want to be in Caitríona’s way: she’s a very thoughtful, very considered person, but there’s a lioness an inch from the surface. I’d want her on my side in a fight. No question.”
Belfast lands at a busy time, perhaps even a chaotic one, professionally and personally, for Balfe. Last August she and her husband, music producer Tony McGill, had their first child, a son. Balfe is well aware of the awards chatter for the film, but life at home, changing nappies, grabbing sleep when she can, provides some perspective in case she becomes too carried away thinking about little gold statues.
“Luckily, I’m doing a lot of that [changing nappies], so I’m actually not thinking about the awards too much: it’s more ‘Stop peeing on me!’” she exclaims. “No, if it ever happened, I’d be bloody excited, but I don’t think you can chase that stuff, because that really does make you crazy.”
Balfe and McGill live a “nomadic” existence, spending time in London and Los Angeles, but living most of the year in Glasgow while she shoots Outlander. The sixth series of that show will return on 6 March, ending a hiatus that diehard fans have called the “Droughtlander”. It was a testing season to film, back in the winter of 2021. There were Covid protocols and the bitter Scottish climate to contend with. The material was challenging as well: at the end of the fifth series, Balfe’s character Claire was brutally raped, and there was a deep, psychological and physical reckoning that came with that. All while Balfe herself was pregnant.
“Claire’s story was very heavy this season,” says Balfe. “And it’s very heavy material as well. So I was just like, ‘Does your body know if you’re pretending to be stressed and upset and angry?’ Because you’re going through all the motions to get yourself into a state where you’re crying or shouting or scared, and there were times where I must have been four or five months pregnant and I’m running around shooting guns. And I’m like, ‘What does this child think?’ It must be like, ‘Who the fuck is my mother? What am I being born into?’”
Belfast may be some people’s introduction to Balfe, but she already has a loyal following thanks to Outlander. Some have been there since the start, others found the very bingeable show during lockdown. One sign of its popularity comes each year on Balfe’s birthday: 4 October. In 2020, when she turned 41, a group of fans decided to plant 41 trees in her honour. (Why trees? Balfe’s not totally sure, but she does follow the charity One Tree Planted, which plants a native tree for each $1 pledged, on Instagram.) This quickly became 410 trees, and when Balfe and her Outlander co-star Sam Heughan lent their support, it all became a little crazy. That year more than 55,000 native trees were planted, everywhere from Uganda to the Andes. A similar number followed in 2021, creating a “Balforest” of more than 100,000 trees.
“That’s not nothing,” says Balfe. “Sometimes people look down on shows like this and fandoms like this, but they’re amazing. And it’s funny, I do say sometimes it feels like I have thousands of stage mums. In the most beautiful way. Anything I do, they’re right on it and like, ‘Go on!’”
As for what is next, Balfe has recently started shooting the seventh series of Outlander. Diana Gabaldon, the former Disney scriptwriter whose novels inspired the show, has suggested there will be 10 books in the series, but at the moment Balfe and Heughan have only committed to seven. Balfe would like to direct, and has optioned Sara Crossan’s novel Here is the Beehive to potentially produce and star in. But before that, she has a baby to look after and an awards season to contend with. Balfe is unlikely to be short of offers after that.
“For someone who started in the industry so late, it’s been incredible,” says Balfe, looking a little perplexed at the run she’s having. “I don’t know, I got really fucking lucky.”
Belfast is in cinemas now; Outlander resumes in March
See full photoshoot here. Fashion editor Jo Jones; makeup by Mary Wiles at One Represents Using Kat Burki Skincare; hair by Gareth Bromell at Premier Hair and Makeup using Sisley Haircare; nails by Robbie Tomkins at Premier Hair and Makeup using Dior Manicure Collection and Miss Dior Hand Cream; digital technician Andy Mayfield; photographer’s assistant Alfie Bungay; fashion Assistant Peter Bevan; shot a Big Sky studios
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