*WARNING: This article contains major spoilers from Outlander Season 8*

Outlander actress Caitríona Balfe has disclosed that her directorial debut on the beloved historical drama series was far from straightforward, reports the Daily Record.

The 46 year old Irish star, who has portrayed 20th-century time traveller Claire Fraser for more than a decade, recently took to the director's chair to helm episode two of the programme.

The second episode of Outlander's eighth season, entitled Prophecies, featured a bear attack at Fraser's Ridge that culminated in tragedy. Balfe has now offered some behind-the-scenes insight into what filming the sequence was genuinely like.

Speaking at a recent screening and Q&A in London, Balfe revealed: "That b****y bear. Three days before we shot the bear, it was a cougar and it was supposed to be a real cougar."

"In the book it's a bear but because we were never going to have a bear in the UK, in Scotland, [the producers] were like, 'We're going to have a cougar. There's a cougar in England. We can get the cougar up and it will be a cougar attack.' Cougars attack and they stalk in different ways and I'd planned this shot."

She continued, telling media, including the Daily Record's publishers Reach Plc: "Then they wouldn't issue a licence at the last minute for this cougar to travel and this is what I'm talking about... curveballs."

Balfe explained: "That was happening on Wednesday. I was shooting [actors] Sam [Heughan] and Richard [Rankin] on Tuesday. Monday I was acting all day and Friday was when we found out about the cougar."

Ultimately, the programme featured a bear attack despite Balfe and the production team having initially storyboarded scenes around a cougar. This prompted Balfe to hastily research bear attacks online in preparation for the sequence.

She commended the special effects team for producing the CGI bear responsible for killing Amy Higgins (Joanne Thomson), adding that navigating this last-minute change throughout her episodes was both "exciting and stressful".

The actress, who also holds the role of executive producer, confessed that her ambition to direct had been brewing since Season 3, having raised the subject at that time. Yet it was only once she openly expressed her desire to helm an episode that she finally received the call from the Outlander production team.

The star also reflected on her final day on set alongside co-star Heughan, remarking: "My brain can't remember what we were saying even as we were saying it.

"There were seven different versions of me watching the different versions, if that makes sense. It was like an out-of-body experience."

The Belfast and Le Mans 66 star disclosed how her face began to "spasm" during filming, and how "new meaning" would emerge from their lines, resonating with both their personal lives and their shared journey throughout the show.

She explained: "Different parts of my face were moving. I didn't even know my face could do this. I was just so overcome with emotion and the realisation of the enormity of this ending."

Outlander season 8 airs on Starz in the USA on Fridays and on MGM+ via Prime Video in the UK on Saturdays