In the vast sea that is Droughtlander III: Attack of the Obsessenachs (more on that in a later post), we welcome casting news announcements like Kate Winslet clinging to that door . . . as if our very lives depend on them. Perhaps no casting was as nervously anticipated as Geneva Dunsany. Geneva is the tricky step that will make your presence known if you’re trying to sneak quietly through Voyager without any disturbance. In casting her and in choosing how her storyline plays out, Ron D. Moore has to hit that step just right, or risk waking the whole house.

In announcing newcomer Hannah James, Ron is starting off on the right foot, it seems. James, an English/American actress raised on her family’s Virginia farm, has just two credits to her IMDb page, but she seems tailor-made to play the manipulative Geneva. She has a recurring role on the PBS Civil War drama, Mercy Street, which is her first and only major credit. After searching YouTube for clips of her in action, I settled for a television interview with the women of Mercy Street and realized that Ron Moore has struck gold.

Goodness, she doesn’t even have to say anything and I’m already convinced! Just watch her body language as she listens to the interviewer and her fellow castmates:

That’s Geneva, folks. In saying this, I’m not equating Hannah James with Geneva’s character (which would be incredibly unfair); however, the physical awareness she has of herself will perfectly dovetail into the role.

Raised on a farm in Virginia by her English mother and American father, James was homeschooled until the age of 10. After that she attended a private all girls middle school, followed by a Quaker high school. If her poise and body awareness reminds you of a dancer, that’s because she is. She began studying ballet at age 2, which has ingrained a sense of calculated purpose in the way she carries herself.

She’s also no stranger to corsets and petticoats, which will give Terry Dresbach‘s magnificent costumes a sense of lived-in familiarity. 

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With her striking blue eyes and rich sable hair, James has some marked similarities to Caitriona Balfe, which makes me a bit nervous and a bit excited at the same time and makes me think Ron may be quite masterfully navigating that squeaky staircase. To say much else would be all kinds of spoilery, but I would welcome further discussion on this in the Outlander Cast Clan Book Club.

Hannah is already being welcomed with open arms on Twitter:

Such a treat to be working with you…even if I am freezing my buns off in #Scotland https://t.co/9FLjcQc57N

— Hannah James (@hannah_james_44) November 10, 2016

Starz announced Tanya Reynolds, another fresh face with a prestigious background, as Geneva’s younger, sweeter sister, Isobel. Though not much more can be found of her personal biography, Reynolds was educated at Oxford School of Drama and you can find a link to her show reel on their Spotlight page.

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Her show reel gives us a glimpse at a zany awkwardness, which makes her infinitely likable and a proper companion for One Who Shall Not Be Named. In English waifishness, she gives Rosie Day a run for her money and I’m sure she will be a welcome yang to Geneva’s yin.

And proving she already speaks Sam’s language, she tweeted this:

So very excited to be a part of this story. Xxx https://t.co/yzdlDAgqBP

— Tanya Reynolds (@TanyaLReynolds) November 11, 2016

One last thought before we move on from the Dunsany sisters.

For some weeks there has been speculation in regards to the casting of Geneva. Some in the fandom speculated that American actress MacKenzie Mauzy had been cast as Geneva, this based on the fact that she posted Instagram images of the Scottish countryside. These were neither excited nor congratulatory casting rumors, which of course, have now proven to be categorically false. I wish I could make psychic predictions based on landscape photography, but perhaps we’re not all so blessed. To put it simply, this fandom’s treatment of MacKenzie Mauzy has been appalling, festering in the dark on Tumblr and right out in the bright light of day on Instagram. Like I said at the beginning, however . . . more on that in a later post.

Finally, while I was putting this post together, we got another gift in the form of Young Jamie aka Jamie Murray.

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Conor McCarry is another relative unknown, but with three credits to his name on IMDb, two of them, Anna Karenina and The Night Manager, major A List show pieces.

McCarry quietly let his presence be known by attending the BAFTAs with the Outlander cast members and posing for a fan photograph with Steven Cree, who plays his father, Ian Murray.

Source: OCB