Why this ‘Outlander’ character was recast for season 7

• “Outlander” season seven has seen one major member of Jamie Fraser’s family recast.
• Jenny Murray was played by Laura Donnelly in earlier seasons.
• As of season seven part two, Kristin Atherton has taken over the role.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for “Outlander” season seven, episode nine, “Unfinished Business.”

The second half of “Outlander” season seven has reintroduced viewers to a few characters not seen since the show’s early days.

As Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire (Caitríona Balfe) made their return to the Frasers’ ancestral home, Lallybroch, in the midseason premiere, which aired on November 22, the couple reunited with a number of old acquaintances, including Ian Murray (Steven Cree) and Laoghaire Mackenzie (Nell Hudson).

Among the returning characters was Jamie’s no-nonsense sister, Janet “Jenny” Murray. But while the character was originally played by Northern Irish actor Laura Donnelly in early seasons, she has been replaced by another actor for season seven.

Starz announced in late 2022 that Kristin Atherton would be taking over the role from Donnelly, who last appeared on the show in season three, which aired in 2017.

The reason behind the recasting decision has not been made public. Representatives for Donnelly and Starz did not respond to a request for comment sent by Business Insider.

However, Donnelly has been busy with several other projects since she last appeared in “Outlander.”

Donnelly played the protagonist in HBO’s “The Nevers,” which began airing in 2021, and has appeared in the movies “Tolkien” (2019) and “The Heist Before Christmas” (2023). Most recently, she played the older version of Emma Healy’s character in the Hulu historical drama “Say Nothing,” which premiered on November 14.

Elsewhere, Donnelly, who is an Olivier Award-winning and Tony-nominated actor, has been appearing in the Broadway run of “The Hills of California,” directed by Sam Mendes and written by Donnelly’s husband, Jez Butterworth.

Meanwhile, Atherton, who made her “Outlander” debut in Friday’s episode, is best known as a voice actor and has voiced several video game characters. Her television roles include appearances in the British dramas “Waterloo Road” and “Doctors.”

Jenny is just one of several key characters from past seasons who’ll be making a comeback this season. As well as the aforementioned characters, Dougal MacKenzie (Graham McTavish), Geillis Duncan (Lotte Verbeek), Brian Fraser (Andrew Whipp), and Joan MacKenzie (Layla Burns) will appear.

Given that these returning characters are dead, audiences may be wondering how exactly they will be written back into the story. While flashbacks are possible, showrunner Matthew B. Roberts hinted at another possibility.

“One of the many joys of our epic story is the element of time travel which allows us to revisit some of our favorite characters in different times and places,” he said in a statement to BI.

“Outlander” airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET on Starz, streaming on Prime Video with Starz or Hulu with Starz.