Why Jamie From Outlander Looks So Familiar
"Outlander" on Starz truly made its mark as one of the most unusual series on the network, which is really saying something. The show follows Claire Randall (Caitríona Balfe), a military nurse during World War II who gets transported back in time to 1743. It's there she must acclimate to a new way of life, and that includes falling in love with and marrying a noble Highland warrior named Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan).
Jamie has remained an integral role in the show, but despite the significance of the part, actor Sam Heughan has still managed to find time to pursue other projects. His eclectic resume showcases an actor who isn't afraid to try out other genres. He may be a mighty warrior on "Outlander," but at times, he can be humble or even downright comedic. It's an interesting case study to see just how his career has progressed, so here's where you might have seen Jamie from "Outlander" in the past.
Sam Heughan did time with Hallmark
Before taking the part of a warrior, Sam Heughan played royalty on the Hallmark Channel original movie, "A Princess for Christmas." The 2011 film has all the makings of a Hallmark classic where a young woman travels to Europe for the holidays. While there, she falls in love with the charming Prince Ashton (Heughan). Various miscommunications and adorable happenstances take place, ending in a way all Hallmark holiday movies do.
The movie still finds itself in rotation on the Hallmark Channel almost every year around the holidays to fill viewers with glee. And in a 2022 interview with Parade, Heughan looked back on his time in the movie, which is a far cry from where his career is now. But he has no regrets, saying, "I think I am a better actor now, but I love that movie." The film also gave him a chance to work with a real film icon, continuing, "I got to work with Roger Moore. He is one of the most famous Bonds and it was incredible. All of those jobs are the precursor to what I am doing now. I met great people."
Working with former James Bond actor Roger Moore was appropriate, especially considering how he's really been pushing to be the next Bond.
Sam Heughan acted alongside Mila Kunis in The Spy Who Dumped Me
Speaking of Sam Heughan and James Bond, the actor actually had a chance to prove what a good spy he could play in the 2018 action-comedy "The Spy Who Dumped Me." The film follows two friends who get wrapped up in international espionage due to one of their ex-boyfriends being a CIA agent. The women's shenanigans eventually lead them to another agent, Sebastian (Heughan), who helps them through their journey.
The film very much proved the actor had the chops to play James Bond, but even if that role never materializes for the actor, he at least had a blast working on the comedy with Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon. As he told Screen Rant, the script instantly sold him on the project: "Actually the script was the thing that really drew me to it. I read it and was laughing out loud within the first few pages. It's a great script, very funny. Susanna [Fogel] and David [Iserson] co-wrote this. That, plus the opportunity to work with Mila [Kunis] and Kate [McKinnon] was far, far too good to pass up."
While the film had franchise potential, it appears to have fizzled out, but Heughan got to play spy for a little while at least.
More action followed with Bloodshot
Sooner or later, every actor in Hollywood has to star in a comic book adaptation, and in 2020, it was Sam Heughan's time for superhero jury duty when he starred in "Bloodshot." Heughan plays Jimmy Dalton, another subject of the Bloodshot program where people are given extraordinary abilities via nanite technology. He's used as a foil against Ray (Vin Diesel), who aims to avenge Gina's (Talulah Riley) death.
It's only natural for Heughan to play all these action studs, especially how he plays a warrior on "Outlander." However, "Bloodshot" was apparently a different beast entirely with the actor needing to go the extra mile to play the role. He recalled to SyFy, "I spoke to Dave [S.F. Wilson] initially, and he wanted me to get as big as I possibly could." He went to discuss how that was difficult given his other commitments, "I was shooting a TV show at the time, so it was hard to fit that in. But I did, I trained as hard as I could. We rehearsed all of those fights over and over. A lot of them were practical, [they] were real. We did do a lot of wirework and choreography. We shot them over a couple of weeks, and then went for pickups as well."
All of that training probably didn't hurt when it came to the action scenes for "Outlander" either.
Sam Heughan shows a softer side in Love Again
Although action projects have primarily come to define Sam Heughan's career, he went back to his Hallmark roots with a good, old-fashioned romantic comedy in the form of 2023's "Love Again." The film sees him play Rob Burns, a journalist who receives a new phone number from the deceased fiancé of Mira (Priyanka Chopra Jonas). Mira continues texting the number as a form of therapy, and Rob is taken in by her beautiful words, tracking her down, all while writing a feature about Celine Dion.
"Love Again" may not see Heughan engage in crazy fight scenes, but he proved to be an outstanding scene partner with Chopra Jonas. The duo spoke with Collider about the film, and she couldn't have been more complimentary toward her love interest, stating, "I think that for me, Sam is just extremely gracious, and he's someone who – I ask a lot of questions, and I know this about myself. I ask a lot of questions, I have a lot of conversations when I'm doing a scene, and he's just so wonderfully adaptive. Even if I have a bulls***, stupid idea, [he] will never make me feel that way while we're working together, you know?"
From action to comedy to romance, Sam Heughan can do it all. And even if the next "James Bond" movie doesn't come calling, he won't be short on work any time soon.