Caitriona Balfe Joins Cast of Apple TV+'s Mount Everest Film 'Tenzing'

Though the final season of Outlander has yet to air, filming wrapped on the series last Fall, which means we'll slowly start to see its stars take on projects that don't involve Scottish standing stones or time travel over the next few months. Sam Heughan recently starred in the (admittedly bizarre) psychological thriller The Couple Next Door, and now it's his co-star Caitriona Balfe's turn. She's set to take part in the forthcoming Apple TV+ film Tenzing, a 1950s-set historical drama about the inspirational life of Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, who helped Sir Edmund Hillary summit Mount Everest in 1953.

An accomplished mountaineer and high-altitude porter for several previous British expeditions, the Tibetan-born Norgay had (unsuccessfully) been to Everest six times before his and Hillary's attempt. The pair would forge a strong working relationship and together achieve what was, at the time, thought impossible, reaching the peak of the world's tallest mountain.

While the role of Tenzing has yet to be cast, Tom Hiddleston (The Night Manager) is set to play the New Zealand-born Hillary. Balfe will take on the role of Jill Henderson, a friend of Tenzing's who helped organize trips up Mount Everest. (At the time, the long-standing climbing route to the summit of Everest was closed by Chinese-controlled Tibet. For the next several years, Nepal only permitted one or two expeditions to attempt per year.)