I speak to Sam Heughan the week they found Andrew Irvine’s 100-year-old foot on the northern face of Mount Everest. For Heughan, an Everestophile with a vested interest in the long-lost explorer, it was difficult to stay off the topic for long.

“I’ve always been totally drawn by that mountain and the mystery surrounding it,” Heughan explains, tucking his palm under his chin. “I was supposed to do a movie about it; it fell through. However, I made friends with a mountaineer, and this December I’m gonna travel to Nepal. I’m gonna hike the back route to the Khumbu Valley and see Everest from behind.”

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Seeing Everest from behind is one among a handful of bucket list items for Heughan post-Outlander. After 11 years on the hit time-travel meets historical drama meets romance saga, he’s just wrapped the eighth and final season, and it’s time for the 44-year-old Scot to find out who he is outside of rugged 18th-century hunk Jamie Fraser.

And, who is he? Well, Heughan’s a pretty stand-up guy— the kind of person who wouldn’t scale the highest point on Earth because he considers the huge lines of climbers “kind of disrespectful to the mountain and the people.”

“I’m not even sure I’m gonna survive it,” he reflects, but, on the off chance that he does, Heughan’s got a lot more time on his hands. “I’m really on the precipice—the beginning of a new journey, right? I feel like I’m no longer tied by Outlander. I don’t know! Maybe I’ll start a family. Maybe I’ll travel more. Maybe I’ll do other jobs.”

It’s been a busy decade for Heughan, no longer that bairn from Galloway. Though, Outlander, too, is no longer just that Scottish drama series, the second half of season seven to be released this November on MGM+ in the UK and Starz in the US, and the final season forthcoming next year. Jamie and Claire (Caitríona Balfe) have infiltrated the court of Louis XV, bought farmland in North Carolina, and outsmarted pirates in the Caribbean, all while intermittently returning to the show’s parallel late 20th-century plotline. “I worked on Outlander for so long as Jamie Fraser that honestly just the process of putting on his clothes—his boots specifically, or his kilt—became like a ceremony,” says Heughan.

“It’s a TV show,” he reflects. “It’s about time travel, but we worked extremely hard to make it as historically accurate as possible, almost to the detriment of the show. Production went to great lengths in everything–the costumes, the dialogue of certain historical figures. Were people as clean or as well-dressed or as well-spoken? No, they weren’t. It’s romanticized, but the show was made by predominantly Scottish people, from the actors to the crew to the production.” 

When he first arrived in Edinburgh as a teenager, Heughan fell in love with the theater scene, starting off as a stagehand at the Edinburgh Festival. “I didn’t know I could be an actor,” he said, but the performer Tom McGovern caught his attention. “I was so busy watching him rehearse whilst building the set that I dropped a piece on the stage manager’s hand. He had to go to the hospital and get stitches,” describes Heughan of the point at which he pivoted to acting. “Theater, especially, is transportive. Part of your body believes it, and your mind believes it. It just seemed like a magical world.”

Recently, Heughan has been promoting his upcoming TV show The Couple Next Door. The drama series, which premiered on Britain’s Channel 4 last year but will debut on Starz this January, features Heughan as a suburban traffic cop who becomes intimately involved with the couple living next door. “When I read the script, I was just so drawn to its really dark, interesting characters,” says Heughan, “These two couples that are ultimately in open relationships get embroiled in a lot of drama.”

It seems that Heughan is easily drawn to things, which is probably what makes him such an engaging and loveable actor on screen. Since Outlander’s premiere, Heughan has become a bit of a sex symbol, in all the knotted dehumanization of the term.

“I’ve been subjected to numerous moments in my career where I’ve been either objectified or treated like I have to do certain things,” Heughan states. “It’s getting better. I mean, at least we’re having the conversation. I’m not a woman so I couldn’t possibly speak on behalf of them but I think for men it’s equally as difficult.”

In the past decade, public discourse seems to have developed somewhat of a gag reflex to objectifying women— not that we won’t stomach their objectification; it just often leaves a sour taste in the mouth. In Heughan’s view, this same sense of propriety has not been extended to male actors. “Men, we’ve always had it easier than women, 100%. But, also, we haven’t perhaps had the platform to be able to talk about it without being told, you know, ‘Man up’ or ‘What do you know? You’re just a man.’” When asked how he copes with these pressures, Heughan answers “With humor.”

Outlander, renowned for its sex scenes, did not have an intimacy coordinator until season six, meaning that when Heughan shot, for example, the season one finale where his character is brutally sexually assaulted, Heughan did so with relatively little direction. In the fallout of such experiences, Heughan campaigned successfully to hire Vanessa Coffey, an intimacy coordinator he knew from his studies.

“There was a lot of nudity, and there was an expectation to perform and just give whatever they desired,” Heughan notes of his early days on Outlander. “No one really directed you when it came to an intimate scene. I really felt that we were left to our own devices, and it can be difficult when you’re on set and you’re in character and you’re in an emotional, high, intense scene to also have a direct conversation with the producers or directors.”

Yet, an intimacy coordinator helps create a safer environment for cast members, something Heughan wanted for himself as well as the younger actors on set. “[Coffey] was a great support and a great negotiator. Ultimately, it’s about the viewer feeling that they are witness to something really intimate. She helped push us further in terms of the relationship while we ran out of ideas. ‘Okay, Have you thought about this?’ Or ‘How can we make this scene feel more intimate?’”

In fact, Heughan brought Coffey—who has also worked on House of the Dragon and The Witcher—with him to shoot The Couple Next Door. For Heughan and Coffey, the shoot was an opportunity to craft an atmosphere for intimate scenes that was safe, comfortable, and successful. Heughan hoped to build the environment he wished he had entered as a young man.

“I think I have what I always wanted—that teenage boy dreaming of being an actor and telling stories and entertaining. I want to have fun,” Heughan says, imagining the upcoming months. “Some consider that a lot of work, too. I’m just like... can we just maybe take, I don’t know, a minute? Everyone? I feel very lucky.”

Fun, but not organized fun—organized fun is the enemy of Sam Heughan. Last year, he took a spiraling road trip from Nevada to Wyoming, moseying up the mountain states. “I certainly have to live my life by scheduling, so it’s kind of nice to decompress. Turn your phone off and enjoy it, unless you need Google Maps, of course.” Heughan’s top tip for a good road trip? A good partner (he is, perhaps intentionally, vague about his companion on the mountain trip). “At first, you’re kind of like, ‘Where are we going? What are we doing?’ Once you allow the journey to take control, you can have some really rewarding experiences and get closer to whoever you’re with.”

In Heughan’s view, America is practically made for road-tripping, though he thinks drip coffee should be illegal. “Listen, it’s brown water. It’s not hydrating. It’s not caffeinating. It’s depressing. It’s not even coffee; it’s a halfway house. If you’re going to give me a coffee, give me something that’s gonna make me wired. And hopefully from Italian origins.”

Apart from this tiny travel baggage, figuratively speaking, Heughan is a near-professional road-tripper. Men in Kilts, the travel show he co-hosted with Graham McTavish (Dougal MacKenzie on Outlander), spent its first season in Scotland, trying to capture the country’s particular charm. “I think the reason Outlander did so well is because of Scotland and its majestic scenery,” says Heughan, “But it’s not just the scenery. It’s the history and sense of the place. It’s the Gaelic word dúchas—the sense of belonging—that I think people have when they watch the show. History there is tangible. You can feel the past lives. We finished shooting last week, and I had a very special moment with some of the people I love most on the show in a very beautiful location. The thing I’ll miss most about the show is the people. I have a family now of people I’ve worked with for 11 years, like my driver, my makeup artist, my costume person, the props guy, the continuity woman. I’ll miss seeing them every day, but it felt like a fitting ending. Scotland delivered.”

When I ask if he has any advice for Californians heading into the long winter, Heughan scoffs. “You guys, there’s no winter here,” he says. “I’ve had to change my shirt like three times today already. I don’t think I’ve seen the sun for a full day in Scotland this last year. If you do get some rain and clouds, then enjoy it because it will probably be sunny again tomorrow.”

Sam Heughan’s leading want in life, currently, is “to sleep at certain hours.” Makes sense, as the actor has been on a bit of a press bender. Heughan asks me about my own leading want, and I say it is to host Thanksgiving dinner. “And you haven’t done it yet?” Heughan clarifies.

“I feel like this is really attainable. I feel like you could do this this Thanksgiving if you really wanted. Not that I’m... I don’t know... I’m just pushing you to go for your dreams,” he imparts. Heughan wishes me good luck and I wish him lots of sleep and fun. We continue on with our days, two people with very attainable goals.

All seasons of Outlander, including 7 part 2, are available to stream on MGM+ in the UK and Starz in the US. Season 7 part 2 will be available to stream in the UK on Saturday, November 23 and in the US on Friday, November 22. 

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Photographed by Michael Muller

Styled by Monty Jackson at A-Frame Agency

Written by Sarina Bell

Grooming: Melissa Dezarate at A-Frame Agency

Flaunt Film: Isaac Dektor

Stylist Assistant: Jake Mitchell

Photo Assistant: Sara Morris‍

Location: Storm King Art Center

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