Sam Heughan Reflects on How 'Outlander' Has Changed Everything (Exclusive) ...Saudi Arabia

WhenSam Heughansat down for a Zoom chat with Parade about the final season of Outlander, it was obvious that the hot Scot—who logged in from the Germany location of his new Embassy TV series—has moved on from Jamie Fraser, the definitive character of his career to date.

Shorn are the long, red locks that were one of the trademarks of the 18th-century laird. They've since been replaced by a close-cropped 2026 hairstyle and Heughan has returned to his natural dark blond, while the tailored, knee-length frock coat and breeches that covered his 6'3" frame in the time-travel series have been swapped for a sporty leather jacket.

“I kind of miss the kilt sometimes, but it's also nice to just put on a pair of jeans and go to work,” the 45-year-old actor tells Parade.

For the past 12 years, fans around the world have been glued to TV sets, computers and other devices as Heughan has embodied the heroic role created by best-selling author Diana Gabaldon for her Outlander franchise of books. Gabaldon is currently hard at work on Book 10—tentatively titled A Blessing for a Warrior Going Out. It's the final book in the series and will focus on Jamie and his loving wife Claire (Caitríona Balfe). Now, Heughan is ready to spread his wings and see what lies ahead.

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Photographer: Jem Mitchell; Styling: Grace Gilfeather; Grooming: Charley McEwen

“[Fan] support is amazing, and they have been brilliant, but I think they forget that I am an actor and that the reason I got into acting was to play different parts,” Heughan says. “Hopefully, they're excited for us and will follow us on our journeys, and if they miss Jamie Fraser that much, they can always rewatch or read the books, and I will with them, because I'm a fan now myself.”

Photo courtesy: STARZ

For his part, Heughan says Outlander and Jamie Fraser will happily always be a part of who he is as the role was “all-encompassing and life changing.” But he’s also proud of the non-acting achievements it has allowed him to pursue, especially in terms of terms of Scotland: Outlander fans from across the world have flocked to the country over the past decade, and Heughan’s foray into entrepreneurism has benefited the economy with his line of Sassenach Spirits. Its offerings include Sassenach Fine Scottish Vodka, Sassenach Wild Scottish Gin, Sassenach Select Tequila and Sassenach Blended Scottish Whisky—as well as the construction of the Galloway Distillery in 2025.

“I've put my money where my mouth is,” says Heughan, who will always have a base in Scotland no matter where his acting career takes him. “I've fully financed the Galloway Distillery in my hometown, and I'm trying to help renovate and support other businesses and other producers there.”

The BAFTA and Critics Choice Awards-nominated actor also founded My Peak Challenge, a global community dedicated to living healthier and more balanced lives, while also helping others. To date, MPC has raised more than $8 million in charitable funds, which have been donated for the purposes of financing vital research projects for blood-cancer treatment, addressing environmental issues, supporting end-of-life care and helping fight global hunger.

Heughan himself admits that a healthy lifestyle is essential after experiencing a low-level eating disorder at the beginning of his career, caused by the pressure he felt as an actor to maintain a “certain” physical appearance.

“I thought the way to look good on screen was to starve myself or to underfeed myself, but I think also, in some ways, I then took up running and working out, because I thought that was also another way to stay slim, or to look a certain way,” he tells Parade. “I've educated myself over time. But MPC came about because I returned to Scotland to shoot Outlander, and just wanted to encourage people to enjoy the things that I was enjoying. Much like the whisky, it's a passion of mine, getting outdoors and challenging yourself, seeking new horizons, hiking, cycling—whatever it is.”

Related: Outlander First Look: A Former King’s Captain Raises Alarms for Jamie (Exclusive)

Born in Balmaclellan, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland, Heughan was raised by single mom Chrissie Heughan—an artist and artisan papermaker—in the nearby village of New Galloway. In his memoir, Waypoints: My Scottish Journey, he describes his childhood as “idyllic.”

When he was 12, Heughan moved with his mother and brother Cirdan to Edinburgh, where he began attending shows at the Royal Lyceum and fell in love with theater, which was when the actor in him was born. 

“Movies or TV were not the motivation; it was definitely theater,” he says. “Before that, I had no idea what I wanted to be. I was interested in magic, and being a soldier, and a knight and all that stuff that little boys are interested in. So in a way, I'm doing exactly what the little boy wanted, which was to get to play different things.”

To make that dream come true, he moved to Glasgow to study acting at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (now the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland) where he graduated in 2003 and mainly pursued theater until his starring role on Outlander brought him worldwide recognition.

Now that that chapter of his life is coming to its conclusion (the show finished shooting more than a year ago, but the 10-episode final season is just now starting to air), Heughan reminisces about his time as Jamie Fraser and the appreciation he has for the growth of the character over the show's eight seasons, which allowed him to stretch as an actor.

By Season 8 of Outlander—which Heughan plays with gray added to his hair—he’s a man who’s aged more than 30 years over the course of the story and has come to terms with who he is and what he hopes to achieve.

“He knows he can't live without Claire, doesn't want to, and he's also got a lot more responsibility,” Heughan says. “He's fighting for a lot more. [In] Season 1, he's on his own—no real responsibility. Over time, he's become a father, a laird, a leader of men and a general. And now, he’s responsible, really, for the whole area of America where they've settled, the whole of Fraser's Ridge—and he's trying to do the right thing by everyone.”

That said, Heughan’s favorite part of the character was his humor.

“He could be funny, but also a little bit ridiculous, or I tried to make him funny in moments,” he says. “I think family was always fun to shoot, whether it's the lovely relationship that developed with Bree [Sophie Skelton], who's fantastic, or his relationship with Roger [Richard Rankin] that started off completely in the wrong direction to relying on him. In a way, how Jamie interacts with them also tells you a lot about Jamie himself.”

Photo courtesy: STARZ

In addition to Outlander creating the definitive role of his career, it’s given him lifelong friends in co-stars Balfe, Skelton, Rankin and Graham McTavish, who played his Uncle Dougal MacKenzie.

“Caitríona [and I] are starting to build a relationship outside of the show, which is perhaps more genuine and more full, shall I say, because we don't have the pressure of working together anymore," he explains. "We've always said, we're kind of like brother and sister. There's a great bond there, and there will always be a bond between all of us [because] we went through this together.”

For now, Heughan has taken on the role of Connor Wright—a sergeant in the SAS special services—in the geo-political action thriller Embassy, which also stars Anna Kendrick and J.K. Simmons.

“There’s an attack on the U.S. Embassy, and Connor’s ex-partner Layla [Kendrick] is in the embassy, where she works as an aide to the ambassador, and he goes in with the team to rescue her,” Heughan explains. “It's about identity, about love. There's a lot of history, a lot of gray areas, a lot of politics involved and a lot of cool action as well.”

Filming wrapped on Season 8 of Outlander in July 2024, and as the tenth book in the series has not yet been finished, it is possible that the ending of the TV series and the book may be very different.

“I hope we've served Jamie and the fans, but that's always the challenge, isn't it?" Heughan says. “To keep everyone happy, and I guess you can't please everyone all the time. Fans are never going to be happy because the show's ending, but I hope they're pleased in some ways.”

Putting out his own final message to all of those fans, he adds, “Our story has ended, our journey has, but the books will go on. It's a shame that we didn't get to cover all the books, but I think our ending is certainly in the Outlander world.”

This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity .

Photographer: Jem Mitchell // Styling: Grace Gilfeather // Grooming: Charley McEwen

Next, Outlander’s Final Season Trailer Teases a Deadly Prediction

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