OUTLANDER’S casting director has revealed how Scottish star Sam Heughan landed a leading role in the hit show.
Heughan has portrayed Jamie Fraser for almost a decade although bosses initially thought his character would be the hardest role to cast.
Casting director Suzanne Smith has shared insight into how the Scottish actor (below) landed the role and the process behind the scenes.
Speaking to the Express, she said: “Well, with actors, you follow their careers, so I knew Sam from drama school and I brought him in for quite a few roles before, so I’d followed his career so I knew him.”
She added: “So there’s not many very tall Scots that are right for Jamie Fraser, so Sam came to mind straight away.”
Smith explained they did audition other actors and continued: “He (Heughan) just embodied the role and also being a wonderful human being, which is so important.
“So, we did one audition and then we did a recall and then we did a final recall with our producers.”
READ MORE: How I restored an old arctic trawler to explore the Scottish islands
Asked what showrunners were looking for in the role, Smith said sometimes “a role you think is the most difficult proves not to be and the role you think is going to be the easiest is the hardest”.
“That’s the enjoyable thing – sometimes frustrating thing – you never know.”
Smith added: “So I know that my producers thought that Jamie Fraser was going to be the difficult role and it proved not to be.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel