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LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Outlander stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan stripped down to cover the March 4 issue of Entertainment Weekly. The 36-year-old Irish actress and 35-year-old Scottish actor pose in character in the cover shot as lovers Claire Randall and Jamie Fraser.
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Outlander is based on the Diana Gabaldon book series of the same name and premiered on Starz in 2014. Season 2 is based on the second novel, Dragonfly in Amber, and will partially take place in Paris in 1744.
"Season 2 is certainly a whole new show," Heughan said in the interview. "It's split into two halves and the first half will be a new world that Jamie and Claire are in. It's Paris, Versailles, the court of King Louis [XV] and certainly takes them a while to adapt."
"There are so many obstacles for them," Balfe agreed. "They've sort of taken on this massive task of changing the course of history that involves so much political weaving and maneuvering, and just kind of trying to navigate their way through French high society."
"And then as a couple, the impending parenthood is a big thing for them," she added. "Obviously there's a lot of overhang from last season and Jamie has a lot of psychological healing to do from that. Once they come back to Scotland, it's the battle to save the Highland culture."
Outlander follows Claire, a married WWII nurse in 1945 who travels back in time to Scotland in 1743. She meets and falls in love with Jamie, a Highland warrior, and finds herself caught up in the Jacobite conflicts between Scotland and England.
"Season 2 has been about discovering a side of [Jamie] that I didn't know was there, that he's playing someone else," Heughan told reporters at the TCA winter press tour in January. "He's being quite deceptive. He's learning to be deceitful, and he does it very well."
Outlander Season 2 will premiere April 9 on Starz. Balfe has also appeared in Super 8, Now You See Me and Escape Plan, while Heughan played Philip Dorr on Island at War and Scott Nielson on Doctors.
