Caitriona on how playing Claire opposite Sam’s Jamie in ‘Outlander’ has made her more romantic in real life

But the show has given us so much. It’s been the greatest experience thus far of my career, of my life. A lot of shows that we started with aren’t even on the air anymore. ~ Caitriona Balfe

LOS ANGELES—“I’m very protective of Claire,” Caitriona Balfe said of her beloved “Outlander” character that she has been playing for six years now. “That’s the first thing that comes to mind.”

“It’s hard to know because I spend so much time playing her,” added Caitriona, who was asked how Claire Beauchamp Randall Fraser, her nurse-turned-doctor time traveler character, has influenced her in real life. The actress wore a long, green Erdem floral print dress and Christian Louboutin shoes in this LA interview.

“We shoot for nine to 10 months of the year,” the Dublin, Ireland native said of filming Starz’s drama series, which is based on Diana Gabaldon’s book series and is now going into Season Five this year. The show has a huge following.

Caitriona and Sam Heughan, who plays Jamie Fraser, also have many fans. The former model, who gave a fine performance opposite Christian Bale in “Ford v Ferrari,” explained, “More of my waking life these days is playing Claire quite often than not.”

The 40-year-old four-time Golden Globe nominee continued, “But Claire’s confidence and forthrightness have definitely inspired some of those attributes in me. I have a tendency to be shy, sometimes. Playing Claire has given me confidence. Her can-do attitude has definitely rubbed off on me, and that’s in the best way.”

Starz teased the coming episodes which will finally end the “droughtlander” (the term coined to refer to the long interval between the series’ seasons) this way: “Season Five of ‘Outlander’ finds the Frasers fighting for the home they have forged on Fraser’s Ridge. Jamie must find a way to defend all that he has created in America, and to protect those who look to him for leadership—while hiding his personal relationship with Murtagh Fitzgibbons, the man whom Governor William Tryon has ordered him to kill.

“With her family together at last, Claire must use her modern medical knowledge and foresight to prevent them from being ripped apart once again. However, while focusing on protecting others, she risks losing sight of what it means to protect herself.”

You and Sam Heughan have been working together for a long time. You’re good friends, but do you annoy each other sometimes?

You’re stirring the pot (laughs). Very rarely do we ever even get annoyed with each other, which is quite astounding considering that we do work so closely together. His time keeping can sometimes irk me when I’m left standing waiting for him quite often.

I probably boss him around a bit, so that probably irks him about me. We made a conscious decision when we started the show that we should have each other’s back throughout this. We knew we had to stick together as a team, and we’ve done that.