Sam Heughan was the first cast member officially announced for Outlander – the Scottish-American production based on the Outlander series of novels by American born writer, Diana Gabaldon. On the announcement she said: “That man is a Scot to the bone and Jamie Fraser to the heart. Having seen Sam Heughan not just act, but be Jamie, I feel immensely grateful to the production team for their painstaking attention to the soul of the story and characters.”

Sam Heughan was born in 1980 in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has played a number of TV characters back in the UK and landed the role of Prince Ashton in the Hallmark Channel film ‘A Princess for Christmas’. He was nominated for a 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer of 2002 for his performance in Outlying Islands performed at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs. In 2010, he was nominated for a Brittish Soap Award for “Villian of the Year” for his role as ‘Scott Neilson’ in the BBC soap opera “Doctors”. In 2013 he as cast as the lead role in Outlander.

Outlander revolves around Fraser, who strikes up a passionate affair with Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743. Armed with sheer grit and enduring strength, Fraser is a young Scottish clan lord with a complicated past and a disarming sense of humor. He’s further described as intelligent, principled and — by 18th-century standards — educated and worldly, with tenderness and compassion that stand out in contrast to his contemporaries. A natural leader of men, he has no political ambitions or desire for battlefield glory. Instead, he wishes to remove the price on his head and return to his family’s ancestral farm.  

Outlander, returns two days before Tartan Day on April 4th.

Links:
Starz – Outlander
Video: Diana Gabaldon names Scotland the star