“Outlander” actor Charles Vandervaart talks William's struggle to cope with 'ultimate betrayal'

Warning: This story contains spoilers about Outlander season 7, episode 12, "Carnal Knowledge."

William Ransom has some serious daddy issues.

On Friday night's episode of Outlander, audiences caught up with William (Charles Vandervaart), who was hit with a bombshell at the conclusion of last week's episode when he accidentally overheard that he is not actually the son of a nobleman, but instead of Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), a Scot and a rebel.

It's a secret that Lord John Grey (David Berry), Jamie, and Claire (Caitriona Balfe) have kept from William his entire life, and the truth comes out at the worst possible moment. As Jamie pretends to take Lord John Grey hostage at gunpoint, William confronts Claire about what he has just heard, immediately flying off the handle.

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"His entire identity has been held up on this idea that he is the ninth Earl of Ellesmere," says Vandervaart of William's extreme reaction. "He grew up on English values and the values of the royals and of the people in power. Finding out that that's all based on a lie is to say that his identity is a lie, and that's not who he truly is. That'd be so hard to deal with. That's not something I would take lightly in my own life."

However, it's not merely William's crisis of identity that sends him reeling, but the fact that the man he loved as a father, Lord John, and many of those close to him have lied to him for so long. "The thing that hurts more, though, is the betrayal that he feels coming from the people he loves most," Vandervaart continues. "The people that he's always trusted in his life — the groom at Helwater, Jamie Fraser; his father that raised him, Lord John Grey, the person he loves the most; Claire; and his cousin Ian — have all been lying to him. That feels like an ultimate betrayal. The lie from Lord John Grey, the person that's been the consistency in his life, is probably the worst thing about all of it."

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After unleashing his venom and shock on Claire, William stalks out into town, confronting Ian (John Bell) and Rachel (Izzy Meikle-Small) about this truth. Ian has known for some time, while Rachel is unsurprised given the obvious resemblance between Jamie and William. William hauls off and punches Ian, unprovoked, and then turns him over to the redcoats, before forcibly kissing Rachel.

He eventually goes to forget his troubles with a prostitute, Arabella (Silvia Presente), who he is intrigued and peeved by in equal measure. When Captain Harkness (Adam Jackson-Smith) lays claim to the girl on another evening, William offers for her instead and refuses to sleep with her, instead offering her a night of rest. Touched by his commitment to his honor, Arabella reveals her real name is Jane and takes William to bed.

We caught up with Vandervaart to talk about William's extreme reaction, this new bond with Jane, and much more.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: As Rachel says, the resemblance is fairly obvious. Is that something he's never clocked? Do you think it's a bit of willful ignorance? 

CHARLES VANDERVAART: I think so. There is always a strange feeling of unbelonging for William because he has this fieriness that isn't necessarily mirrored back to him through the people in his life. The only person that understood him truly would've been the groom at Helwater, Jamie Fraser. He has all of these personality traits that are so Jamie that I don't know if he could quite place with anyone else in his life. So, there was always that unconscious longing, that idea of like, 'Oh, maybe this is who I really am.' But that would contradict his entire identity as the Earl of Ellesmere. So, I'm sure that got compartmentalized really quickly. But he might've always known in one small part of his brain.

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Do you think there's ever a point where this is something he can accept and make peace with it?

For William's own peace of mind and for the people around him, I hope that happens eventually. When he first left England to go fight in this war, he had these really romanticized ideas about war and fighting for justice. When he finally got there and saw the reality of it all, it was horrible to him. He's been disillusioned by the horribleness of war. That maybe drove him away from his patriotism and from his rigid moral code that he grew up on. That's continuing when he finds out his true identity. I do think that there's going to be a lot of walls that William has up before he can finally accept that as his identity. But it is who he truly is. So, maybe [he] and his healthiest self will finally reconcile with that.

He's really concerned about his sense of honor. But then he also hauls off and punches Ian without provocation, which is very not honorable. What's happening there? Is it just this revelation gives him a space to put his anger about Rachel not choosing him? 

So not honorable at all. Billy, whatcha doing? It's a lot of things. I don't think he's thinking very rationally because, if he was thinking about his honor, he probably wouldn't have done that. But Ian is someone that has lied to him, someone that knew his true identity since they've met, and is also a representation of Jamie Fraser. It's someone that's blood related to Jamie Fraser. It's his own kin. That makes William see him as more of a threat and exactly what he doesn't want to be. And then on top of that, the salt in the wound is the fact that this girl, who he thought he shared mutual feelings with, it turns out that was not the case. Those three things adding up result in William not being able to control his anger and acting in a way that's reprehensible.

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Do you think that his desire to let Arabella/Jane sleep is any way tied to the fact that he forces himself on Rachel earlier in the episode? 

There is a bit of guilt about the way that he acted with Rachel and this very unforgivable thing that he did. Maybe his logic was that he wanted to restore his honor and that wasn't who he was, and he was acting out of character and he wanted to prove that to himself. It is so tough this episode. He hits rock bottom so many times. But I think that bit with Rachel is really his rock bottom, because he did something that she did not deserve. And that sense of guilt probably carried on to that scene with Arabella.

I don't think he broke that honor with Jane because it was something that they both mutually wanted in that moment. But it was something that after the fact, William definitely was ashamed about, because that was the last bit of honor that he was holding onto — the ability that he could restrain himself and save someone for the sake of saving someone without any strings attached and without any benefit to himself. But Jane and William do have a special bond that started in this episode.

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From the first moment they meet on the street, they really seem to be drawn to each other. What is it about Jane that draws William in? Is it a savior complex thing? What's going on there?

Initially, he probably goes in because he doesn't care about anything anymore. Then, he starts to get to know Jane. He met Arabella initially, and then he finally gets to know Jane, who she truly is. They seem to have chemistry that came out of nowhere. There's a sense of familiarity between the two of them. They come from totally different worlds. He comes from a world of powerful men, and she comes from a world of powerful men taking advantage of innocent, good people. Even though they're completely different, they find a bond. They're both people that feel lost.

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He finally breaks down and cry when he's with her after having so much anger this whole episode. How important is that level of vulnerability for his journey going forward?

He really needed that. He needed some cathartic crying right there. I really like the idea that he could put aside his values of You have to be strong and you have to put those emotions aside. To be vulnerable is very important. It's something that he probably learned from Lord John Grey and from Jamie, because they're both very strong men. But they can be vulnerable when they need to be. That was an important step in William's journey of healing. He's very far away from healing at the moment, but give him a couple seasons, baby. He'll get there.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Outlander airs new episodes Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Starz.

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