Outlander star Lauren Lyle has revealed why she chooses to avoid social media, particularly when playing popular characters.
The actress, who will be playing the lead role in ITV's adaption of Karen Pirie, spoke to Digital Spy alongside co-star Emer Kenny about the pressure of fan reactions on social media.
"I remember with Outlander being told 'this is a big character, you might not be what people imagined in their heads and you have to be okay with that'," she said.
Lyle did however recall an incident which led her to avoid Twitter: "I do remember people saying on Twitter [regarding her Outlander character] 'If she was my daughter I'd punch her in the face', and that was something that made me go 'oh maybe I'll just stay away from Twitter'."
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Regarding the online reactions to her role as Karen, Lyle recalled how Kenny reassured her about the casting.
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"With [Karen Pirie] I remember Emer [Kenny] coming to me and saying 'you need to be aware that there will be people who think you don't look and seem as the Karen people have in their heads and you have to be okay with that because this is our adaptation, we have all supported you and and Val [McDermid, author] said yes to you'," she continued.
Kenny added that their adaption is also based off of the earlier novels where the main character was in her 20s.
"The first one was written in 2004. If you go back to that book, that's what we're going from. I think people's versions in their heads has developed and changed over time. It's definitely the 28/29-year-old interpretation of who that character is," she said.
Related: Outlander season 7: Everything you need to know
ITV's Karen Pirie is adapted from McDermid's first book in the series, The Distant Echo. Lyle will star as DS Karen Pirie, a young Scottish investigator who is investigating a historic murder case.
Karen Pirie will air on ITV on Sunday, September 25 at 8pm.
Outlander - Season 1
Outlander - Season 2
Outlander - Season 3
Outlander - Season 4
Outlander (2014) - Seasons 1-4 DVD
Go Tell the Bees that I Am Gone (Outlander 9) by Diana Galbaldon - Signed
The Making of Outlander: The Series: The Official Guide to Seasons One & Two
The Making of Outlander: The Series: The Official Guide to Seasons Three and Four
Reporter, Digital Spy
Brenna Cooper is a freelance journalist, who currently specialises in entertainment reporting. She joined Digital Spy in 2022, writing TV and movies stories for the site. After graduating with an NCTJ accredited Journalism Masters from the University of Sheffield in 2020 she has since embarked on a freelance career.
Brenna previously produced lifestyle content for Checklists.co.uk and has a specific interest in music, reviewing live acts and interviewing bands such as Confidence Man and Amyl and the Sniffers.
Freelance film & TV writer, Digital Spy
Critic and writer Jo Berry has been writing about TV and movies since she began her career at Time Out aged 18. A regular on BBC Radio, Jo has written for titles including Empire, Maxim, Radio Times, OK!, The Guardian and Grazia, is the author of books including Chick Flicks and The Parents’ Guide to Kids’ Movies.
She is also the editor of website Movies4Kids. In her career, Jo has interviewed well-known names including Beyonce, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Cruise and all the Avengers, spent many an hour crushed in the press areas of award show red carpets. Jo is also a self-proclaimed expert on Outlander and Brassic, and completely agrees that Die Hard is a Christmas movie.
