'Outlander' season 4: 'Lord of the Rings' veteran among new cast members

Five actors have joined “Outlander” season 4, and one of them is a “Lord of the Rings” alumni. The announcement was made online, and the new cast members got a warm welcome online from their fellow cast members and from the excited fan base.

The new cast members on the show are Billy Boyd, Caitlin O’Ryan, Natalie Simpson, Tim Downie, and Simona Brown. Downie took to Twitter to share his excitement about being a part of the show, and working with Sam Heughan (Jamie) and Caitriona Balfe (Claire) [see below].

Colin MacFarlane (Ulysses), who is another new cast member of the show, welcomed Simpson especially online [see below]. “See you at River Run!” the actor wrote in his tweet, suggesting that he will be working closely with Simpson.

As far as the characters that the new cast members will play on the show, Entertainment Weekly shared some details about the character descriptions. Some of these actors may have already wrapped their part of the filming because the cast and crew are currently working on the last block of the next season, with the production scheduled to wrap by next month.

Boyd, who is famous for playing Pippin in “The Lord of the Rings” movies, is playing Gerald Forbes in the Starz series. The character Gerald is a wealthy lawyer in Cross Creek who is also friends with his client Jocasta Cameron (Maria Doyle Kennedy), an important new character on the show. Simpson will be playing the role of Phaedre, the personal maid and seamstress of Jocasta.

Brown is playing the role of Brianna’s (Sophie Skelton) best friend and college roommate. O’Ryan plays the role of Lizzie, a Scottish woman who goes on an adventure with Brianna.

Downie is playing the role of Governor William Tyron, a former British officer who got this position through his family connections.