20th Century Fox(LOS ANGELES) — For Outlander star Caitriona Balfe, this is a big week. Not only did she just attend her first Oscars, at which her film Ford vs. Ferrari was nominated for Best Picture and won two trophies, but her beloved STARZ show, Outlander, launches its fifth season on Saturday.
James Mangold’s film saw Matt Damon and Christian Bale playing, respectively, American car designer Carroll Shelby and British-born driver Ken Miles, who in 1966 were tasked with the seemingly impossible mission of building a race car for Ford that could compete, and beat, Italian automaker Ferrari at the 24 Hours of Le Mans road race in France.
Balfe played Miles’ strong, spitfire of a wife, Mollie.
“It was wild,” Balfe explained to ABC Audio about attending Hollywood’s biggest night, “and very overwhelming. It was just…amazing. I mean, it’s a very special night and it was just very cool to be there.”
Balfe added, “Our movie won two Oscars, and congratulations to Mike and Don and Andrew,” referring to winning film editors Michael McCusker and Andrew Buckland, and winning sound editor Don Sylvester. “That was really awesome.”
Ford vs. Ferrari had a respectable box office opening in November but buoyed by great reviews, it consistently made money. Its take now stands at nearly $224 million worldwide.
Balfe says, “I think on the surface, people maybe, you know, underestimated it and kind of wrote it off as just this ‘car movie’, but really it’s…an amazing family film and and it’s just got so much heart to it. And it’s about friendship and teamwork and love and all those things. And, you know, it really gets under your skin, which I think is a good thing.”
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