Outlander’s Sam Heughan admits he still doesn’t know key detail about Jamie after 10 years
Sam Heughan has made a startling admission about his character Jamie Fraser after starring as the hunky Highlander for the past 10 years.
Sam Heughan reveals the souvenir he'll take from Outlander set
Outlander’s Sam Heughan has admitted he’s unsure of a key detail about Jamie Fraser despite portraying him for the past decade.
When Claire Randall (played by Caitriona Balfe) first met the rugged Jacobite soldier in the first season he spoke in a very strong Highlander accent.
Fans have been stunned to hear the actor’s real speaking voice when not in character as the Scottish star grew up in New Galloway before moving to Edinburgh aged 12.
In the first season of the hit Starz series he also had to learn a number of lines in Gaelic, but his dialect has changed considerably over the years.
Speaking to Josh Horowitz for Outlander’s 10th celebration, Sam recalled: “I had to speak pages of Gaelic in there. I guess there was a change of accent.”
He then admitted: “I don’t really know what Jamie’s accent is anymore… It’s Jamie accent!”
Although Jamie’s current accent is still stronger than Sam’s own, it’s changed considerably over the course of seven seasons as the Frasers moved from Scotland to North Carolina.
Also dramatically changing their speaking voice for the series is Irish actress Caitriona, whose heroine Claire has a Southern English accent.
“But you were doing an accent as well,” Sam said to her. “We definitely put in a lot of work in the beginning.
“And it’s cool now, after years of playing these characters, I’m not saying you don’t have to put any effort but it’s already there.
“You’ve done the work so it’s lovely just to be able to drop into the characters again.”
Despite extensive training to get their characters’ voices down pat, Caitriona wasn’t completely convinced when she took a look back at a clip from an early episode.
“In listening to that I’m like, ‘Oh, there’s still a little hint sometimes of Irish there as Claire’...” she said.
But Sam assured her: “That’s not true! Maybe she’d been to Ireland on her holidays.”
Claire and Jamie have made it together through thick and thin but will face new challenges next time after finally arriving back in Scotland.
The second half of season seven will kick off their adventures again after more than a year’s wait, and the cast is currently in the midst of shooting the eighth and final instalment.
Outlander season 7, part 2 premieres Sunday, November 22 on Starz.
