Outlander’s David Berry reveals he almost didn’t return as Lord John Grey

He plays one of the most loved characters in Outlander, but David Berry has revealed he considered leaving the show before the new season.

It’s one of the most popular shows on television beloved by fans around the world, but one of the stars of Outlander considered bowing out of the latest season.

Australian actor David Berry, who plays fan favourite Lord John Grey on the hit period drama, has been a regular on the Starz series since season 3.

But filming for the sixth season – which airs on Foxtel – was scheduled to take place early last year in Glasgow, during a time when Covid-19 was spreading rapidly across the UK.

The Sydney-based actor, 38, whose character returned to screens in last night’s fifth episode after a hiatus, found it difficult to leave the safety of Australia – which at the time was keeping the spread of the virus under control.

“For me, it meant travelling outside of Australia at a time when we didn’t have any Covid at all,” Berry tells news.com.au.

David Berry admits filming during Covid was ‘tough’. Picture: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

“And of course, other Australians were being stranded overseas for long stretches of time. So to leave the country seemed like a huge risk.

“The idea of going over there was extremely daunting. There was a personal risk of catching it, I don’t think we understood the disease very well then.

“And I wasn’t vaccinated – had I caught the disease – I would’ve been there in the UK by myself and no one really knew what it meant to catch Covid at that time.”

But the desire to return to the show which bolstered his career proved to be too tempting.

“In the face of adversity you just have to keep moving forward. And I’m not saying that the adversity I faced was anything compared to what people on the front lines faced, but I would have massively regretted not taking that opportunity,” he says.

“And could I do that when so many people back home were just craving for work at that time? I ultimately couldn’t say no.”

David Berry and Sam Heughan in Outlander.

Logistically, it meant Berry had to spend a month in hotel quarantine to shoot just two episodes in the space of six weeks.

He also had to isolate during filming, meaning he was unable to spend quality time with his fellow cast members.

Due to the complications Covid had on filming, Berry’s first and only appearance in the current season was on Monday’s episode – which just so happened to feature one of the most “uncomfortable” scenes he’s ever had to shoot.

“When Lord John is fighting back people with a broom … I felt so dorky,” he admits.

“But I like the adorable quality of John, I think it’s quite endearing. But I remember reading that and thinking, ‘Oh my god, how am I going to do this?’”

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David Berry returned to Outlander as Lord John in the latest episode.

Despite only having a brief cameo in the latest season, Berry will be back for the seventh season, which is currently filming an extended series in Glasgow.

“The show is back to full strength now, and while there are still Covid protocols in place, we can travel now and things seem to be back to normal,” Berry says.

“It’s quite overwhelming. I just remember there were discussions last season back in 2021 about how we do intimate scenes? How do we do crowd scenes? We had to avoid scenes indoors and doing crowd scenes was of course, a huge risk.

“It was really the first time I’d encountered a crowd in a whole year, was on set. I hadn’t seen that many people in one room for a whole year.

“It was just really weird.”

As for what's instore for Lord John next, Berry said his relationship with Jamie Frazer (Sam Heughan) would be more tested than ever.

“There’s a lot more in store for season 7. We come to understand that perhaps their friendship is untenable,” he shares.

“Especially in this episode (5), John experiences a deep betrayal emotionally, but also, Jamie’s picked a side (Sons of Liberty). So he’s placed, he’s made the decision to place men on opposing sides of an impending war, which we know will be the American War of Independence.”

New episodes of Outlander air Mondays on Foxtel

Originally published as Outlander’s David Berry reveals he almost didn’t return as Lord John Grey