Caitríona Mary Balfe kəˈtriːnə ˈbælf born 4 October 1979 is an Irish actress producer and former fashion model She is best known for her starring role as Claire Fraser in the Starz historical drama series Outlander for which she received a British Academy Scotland Award an Irish Film and Television Award two Peoples Choice Awards and three Saturn Awards She also earned nominations for two Critics Choice Television Awards and four Golden Globe Awards for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama At age eighteen while studying Drama at the Dublin Institute of Technology Balfe was offered work as a fashion model in Paris She was featured both in advertising campaigns and on runways for such brands as Chanel Dolce Gabbana Roberto Cavalli Alexander McQueen Balenciaga Givenchy Marc Jacobs Bottega Veneta Oscar de la Renta and many others over ten years before refocusing on acting She had leading roles in the web series The Beauty Inside 2012 and H The Digital Series 20122013 and appeared in the films Super 8 2011 Now You See Me 2013 Escape Plan 2013 Money Monster 2016 Ford v Ferrari 2019 and Belfast 2021 Description above from the Wikipedia article Caitríona Balfe licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia