Scottish actress Lauren Lyle admitted she had the help of a dialect coach and Outlander author Diana Gabaldon herself to ensure her portrayal of Marsali Fraser was as authentic as possible.
The wife of Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan) and Claire’s (Catriona Balfe) adopted son Fergus (César Domboy), Marsali has become a valued member of Fraser’s Ridge.
Introduced in the third season, she has since become a trusted assistant for the time-travelling healer, Claire, and a firm fan favourite.
Despite cementing her popularity amongst fans with some exhilarating moments in season five, Marsali star Lauren Lyle revealed she needed some help with nailing her portrayal when she first joined on.
READ MORE: Outlander: Who is Jemmy’s real father? Diana Gabaldon confirms truth
Speaking to the Outcast podcast, the Scottish star had to correct podcast hosts Tim Downie and David Berry about the right pronunciation of her character’s name.
At the top of the new episode she exclaimed: “Tim, you got the name wrong again! Marsali!”
The spelling of her character’s traditional Scottish moniker may throw off some viewers, as it’s spoken with a short, de-emphasised second ‘A’.
Tim Downie unfortunately made the common mistake of stressing the second syllable, which Lyle explained was Diana Gabaldon’s first warning when she joined the cast.
Still suspicious of Claire’s anachronistic medical knowledge from her time as a WWII nurse, Marsali is poised to have some vital moments in Outlander’s upcoming sixth season.
Set to be a major presence throughout four seasons of Claire and Jamie’s time-hopping adventure, Lauren Lyle admitted Marsali’s name is still a contentious point for even the most devout Outlander fans.
This also extends to the audiobooks based on the series, which somehow insists on the incorrect pronunciation despite correction from Diana Gabaldon herself.
Like much of the cast, Lyle still had to train with a dialect coach to perfect the authentic 18th Century Scottish accent, despite being born in Scotland.
She went on: “When I first joined the show I had to have a session with the dialect coach. I was quite confused because I’m very Scottish.
“It was mainly to do with getting rid of the Glaswegian accent, and also letting me know that the way Diana wanted my name to be pronounced was ‘Marsali’ like ‘parsley’.”
Despite years of experience with her own Scottish accent, even Lauren Lyle had to practice her character’s name to receive the author’s blessing.
Outlander season 6 is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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