“Jamie and Claire have faced many threats over the years, many things that tear them apart. But you know what? These guys [the Christies] from the inside, they really start to break down the peace and the status quo at Fraser’s Ridge,” Heughan explained. “The arrival of the family and these settlers really does break down the popularity of the Frasers. By the end of this season, we really start to see Fraser’s Ridge deteriorate.” To establish the proper tone of Jamie’s relationship with Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones), newly created flashback scenes to Ardsmuir Prison were filmed, which were crafted together from bits and pieces of the story as told in bestselling author Diana Gabaldon’s Voyager novel. “I loved going back there,” Heughan shared. “It was the first thing we shot this season, but it also became the last thing we shot when we did some pickups. It was interesting because I had to go back to Season 3 and look at what I had done and try to recreate the situation Jamie was in, the fact that he’d just been through Culloden, he’s lost his family, and he’d lost Claire—but then the added information that he’d also been forced into becoming a reluctant leader of men. I think you see the spark of Jamie there; you see him assume that role by the end of the first episode. It takes us back to Jamie in his earlier years.” What Heughan was forced to recreate from Season 3 in filming the new flashbacks was the shadows that Jamie was living under during that time. Just before the battle of Culloden, Claire had gone back through the stones to ensure the safety of her pregnancy, so Jamie was living with the memory of her and his loss. And, of course, he doesn’t have the DNA to be a time traveler, so he couldn’t follow her into the future to be reunited when he survived the fighting. “He didn’t expect to be alive,” Heughan said. “He thought he would die on the battlefield. He’d lost her and also the child that she was pregnant with. So [at Ardsmuir], he was very reluctant and a very different Jamie to the one that we go back to in this season where he’s in North Carolina having to negotiate his way through the politics and the impending War of Independence.” And speaking of war, it was in his earlier years that Jamie was a warrior, when he, along with other Jacobite Scotsmen from his clan, fought in the Battle of Culloden (1743). That ended badly, with the loss of the lives of many of his family and friends and finished with his imprisonment in Ardsmuir as a traitor to the Crown. Now, in 1773, he once again faces the possibility of a rebellion against the Crown as the American Revolution is getting underway. And while Jamie isn’t looking forward to war, it’s a different story for Heughan, who revealed that he enjoys filming the action sequences. “I love it,” he admitted. “We’ve always had a lot of action. Culloden was epic, especially with Tobias Menzies [Black Jack Randall] and that showdown, the epic story of those two and their relationship. Definitely, it’s been really interesting. Last season we lost Murtagh and Jamie was in a red coat. That whole battle was really interesting. We’re building up to the war. We’re about to start shooting those scenes.” Heughan also talked to Parade about the difficulties Claire is having following her attack and how she self-medicates to deal with her PTSD, how Jamie has changed over the seasons, whether or not he is too good to be true, and what it is like to be one of the few people that Gabaldon has entrusted with the ending to the Outlander series. Keep reading for more of Parade’s exclusive Q&A with Outlander star Sam Heughan on Season 6 and more.
In the first episode, Jamie comes in and Claire is unconscious in her surgery. He panics, then finds out she was under the effects of ether. What do you think about the storyline of her self-medicating with ether to deal with her PTSD?
I think it’s super interesting. I know that Caitríona worked closely with the writers. She wanted to get it right, the fact of how the PTSD is triggered. But also, it’s an interesting storyline because it’s not Claire’s typical MO. She normally is very pragmatic; she normally gets over any drama or crisis and just moves forward. I think that’s always been her experience. She’s been through a lot. But this she doesn’t seem able to deal with and does start to self-medicate to a high degree. She also keeps it hidden from Jamie, which is rare. Normally they share everything.
How do you think Jamie has matured over time? How have age and experience changed him for either better or worse?
He’s mellowed out a lot, I think. He used to be pretty tempestuous, pretty fiery. I think he’s become a lot wiser in that he’s a real politician, he’s a player in the bigger space of things. Before he used to just live by his wits, but he’s been through a lot: He’s been a leader of men, he’s been a general, he’s been a warrior, he’s been in the court in Versailles, so he’s really learned a lot. I think he’s become a lot more like his Uncle Colum (Gary Lewis), who you’ll remember from Season 1, who was very manipulative. I think Jamie’s also got some real skill at how to navigate politics.
Jamie seems to be this perfect man. Do you think he is too good to be true?
He’s been coined the King of Men. He’s definitely a pretty damn fine husband; he’s pretty understanding. But he’s not infallible and you see that his fear is losing Claire. I think he’s very aware, this season especially, that she’s fractured, she’s not 100 percent. But I think his attention is distracted because of everything else that’s going on. But we see later down the line when he almost loses her this season, it takes him to some pretty poor places.
How do you think Jamie would fare in the 21st century?
I’m not sure. He’s quite forward-thinking, he’s quite a modern man for his time. But he can be quite blunt at times. Certainly, doesn’t suffer fools. So, I feel like he’s pretty much adaptive to every time, but Diana’s always said he could never time travel, so thankfully we don’t have to explore that.
Is there a characteristic of Jamie’s that you wish you had?
I think he’s a pretty great character to emulate. It’s a really interesting question. I think you always have to find yourself in every character. I’ve noticed that when you play a character, you do take on board some of the characteristics maybe for the time that you’re playing them. So, I wonder when I stop playing Jamie who I will be. Who am I?
Is there a prop or an article of clothing of Jamie’s that you’ve taken home? You’ve talked about how putting on his boots gets you into the character.
I haven’t. I feel like I should be gifted his boots. I haven’t stolen anything yet. I did ask the armory and they did sneak me his dirk from Season 1, which I loved. I feel like I’m going to demand that they give me something this season and, if they don’t, I’ll just steal it and pretend it got lost somewhere.
You attended school in Scotland. How much did you know about the American Revolution, or are you learning as you go on Outlander?
We were never really taught it; it wasn’t really part of our curriculum so it’s new for me. And I imagine probably new for a lot of Americans in a way. I didn’t realize how much integration the Scots had with other immigrants and with the Native Americans. I didn’t realize [the revolution] was mostly due to taxes, that the Brits kind of lost their stronghold, or at least people began to rebel against it. It’s interesting dealing with the war then or the rebellion then and actually what’s going on in the world now.
Having spent so much pretend time back in the 1700s, is there one aspect of life from that time that you wish we could bring into 2022?
Wow! I’d like to say it was more peaceful, but it’s absolutely not. Looking at the news right now, it’s horrendous. But it does seem in some places a little bit more idyllic, doesn’t it? It seems a little simpler in some ways, what life was. But the war is about to affect everyone at Fraser’s Ridge, and they are literally in the middle of nowhere. So, I guess you can never escape man’s actions.
You read the books as you go each season. That said, is there anything that still surprises you about Jamie?
All the time, because you don’t really know him until you play him. I think you can read something or talk about a character, but you don’t really know them until you play them. He still does stuff that I’m surprised by. He says things sometimes and I’m like, “Why is he saying that?” But I love that, that’s the most exciting part of playing a character. If you knew everything about a character, then they wouldn’t be that fun to play.
Maril Davis says Diana actually showed her the last page of the book series. I know that you also know the ending. How hard is it to keep that secret? Or do you and Maril get to talk about it?
You know, it’s funny, I sort of put it out of my mind a little bit. We still have a long way to go to get there. But it’s kind of cool that she did that. She did it very early on. I think she showed me in Season 1. Yeah, it’s a fun secret to have. I know that we’ve still got a long, long way to go before we get there. But, yeah, I do like that I know the endgame. Outlander season 6 airs new episodes Sunday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on STARZ. Next, Sam Heughan Wasn’t Diana Gabaldon’s First Choice to Play Jamie Fraser on Outlander—Find Out Who Was!
