David Berry
A picture of actor David Berry, cast as Lord John Grey in Starz TV series "Outlander." Outlander/ Facebook

New cast member David Berry, who joined “Outlander” season 3 as Lord John Grey, recently interacted with fans at an event. The actor spoke about his preparation for the role and how the show will be better this year.

The time of the casting appears to have not given the actor a chance to read the books, but there is a silver lining to this. The actor explained that a TV adaptation generally means there will be changes to the events and the characters. Reading the books may prove to be more of an impediment. Berry didn’t want to get too “attached” to the novels, fearing changes to the scenes he would have liked.

But it is difficult to ignore the vast source material, given the excellent writing style of author Diana Gabaldon. Berry has come up with an interesting strategy to solve this problem. Going forward, he will be reading the “Lord John Grey” spin-off books to get a better understanding of his character and extrapolate that essence into the Starz show. The actor still has not met Gabaldon, so the books will serve him well in the meantime.

Berry is not allowed to say much about what happens on the TV series, even though most of the plot is there in the book “Voyager” for everyone to read, he pointed out. Still, the actor appreciated the warm welcome he got from fans, at a time when no one has seen him portraying this important character yet. He hopes the viewers will like his interpretation of the character.

What the actor could tell about the new season is that it was going to be “really good.” Comparing it to the previous two seasons, he said that this time, it is “bigger” and “bolder.” Readers who have been following updates about the show will remember that Gabaldon also had something similar to say recently.

The new season will start with the Battle of Culloden. Berry revealed that the cast and crew were particularly excited about this specific part of the plot. The director of this episode is Australian, which may have helped the actor feel right at home on the set.

Just before he left, Berry invited the audience to visit Australia, saying that it is a “wonderful place to visit.” The full video of this event can be watched on Twitter. The Aussie actor was later joined by Steven Cree (Ian Murray), who thoroughly entertained the audience with his trademark jokes and anecdotes.

In case you missed it:

It’s no secret that Jamie will get seasick in “Outlander” season 3, something fans can read about in the book “Voyager.” But filming the scene was not a pleasant experience for Sam Heughan either, Diana Gabaldon explained in a recent interview. (Ream more: 'Outlander' season 3: The time when Sam Heughan got sick while filming)