Jaime Fraser ( Sam Heughan ) certainly went through his fair share of ups and downs in the first season of Outlander , from his romance with Claire to being thrown in prison where he was sexually assaulted and tortured by Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies). With that in mind, Heughan recently sat down with The Wrap and talked about what it was like playing Jaime in Season 1.
Although Heughan admitted the prison scenes were the most difficult to play, he enjoyed the challenge as an actor. “I totally relished it, I really sort of enjoyed it, if that’s the right word, to have that challenge, to play something that dark,” he stated. “We had great writing and a great director on board. But yeah, they were a tough couple of weeks, just going to that dark a place for that amount of time.”
On a lighter note, Heughan also discussed the parts he really enjoyed playing this season.
“In the second half of the season my character got a lot more to do and you see a lot more of his point of view. There’s some great scenes between myself and Caitriona’s character Claire, especially the one by the river in Episode 10 where it’s the first time you get to see us really going at each other and I enjoy that, it’s really fun to do. It just felt like a day where it’s more about the acting as opposed to getting the right shots or the location or whatever.”
Outlander’s fans are loyal — to say the least — and they have taken to social media to bring attention to the performances in their favorite show by starting the hashtag #EmmysForOutlander . Sam has already opened up about how shocked he is by the Emmy buzz surrounding his performance, but the Wrap also wanted to know who else in the cast he thinks deserves an Emmy nomination when they are announced in July.
“I think everybody does. Caitriona is terrific. She has so much stamina and she carries the show. She has to show up everyday and just give her best. Tobias, equally, he’s an amazing actor. Those last couple of episodes where I really sort of got to go to some interesting places, he was there and we really supported each other and trusted each other. I think trust is the most important thing. If the actors and the director and the crew trust each other and you set up perimeters and boundaries, you give everyone space to do great work. I think we’ve got an amazing costume department, amazing writers, directors — just give us an Emmy for everything.”
Fans will get plenty of chances to see more of Heughan as he reprises his role in Season 2 of Outlander , which is currently in production.
[Photo Courtesy: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images]