‘Outlander’ Season 6: Sam Heughan Opens Up About His Bond With Duncan Lacroix and Calls His Exit a ‘Traumatic’ Loss
While the cast and crew of Outlander patiently wait for production on season 6 to begin, many stars have been reflecting on their favorite moments and storylines from the show’s first five seasons. For Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser), there’s one moment in particular from season 5 that really stood out.
The Battle of Culloden was a tough sequence to shoot
As Express notes, Outlander fans have seen a number of battles take place during the Starz series’ first five seasons. The 18th century was bloody on both sides of the pond, with the Jacobite uprising in Scotland and the Revolutionary War in America.
The one battle that proved to be particularly difficult for the cast was the Battle of Culloden at the start of season 3, says Duncan Lacroix (Murtagh Fitzgibbons). The actor says that shooting those scenes wasn’t easy.
“You literally could not see a thing so we’re just running blindly and your sense of distance just goes,” Lacroix said. “So it’s just like, Okay, any second now I’m going to come across someone, just out of the blue. Knees were flying into faces. People earned their money that day.”
Unlike the books, Murtagh made it out of that battle alive and eventually ended up in America where he surprisingly reunited with Jamie. The highlander was supposed to be killed off in the Battle of Culloden. But, he survived in the TV show to fight with Jamie in the Battle of Alamance during season 5.
Murtagh didn’t make it past season 5 of ‘Outlander’
Fans will remember that Murtagh was part of the Regulators who settled in America, but refused to pay tax to the British government. Once he got to the American colonies, Murtagh was working as a Blacksmith when he crossed paths with Jamie again.
Jamie tried to protect his godfather when he became a wanted man. But after getting hurt during the Battle of Alamance, Murtagh died when Claire (Caitriona Balfe) failed to save him. Heughan says the loss of Murtagh wasn’t easy for him as an actor or for Jamie’s character.
“It’s really hard to put it into words really, you know we have this amazing actor in Duncan Lacroix who’s just been a really strong part of the storyline,” Heughan said. “Murtagh, the character, has always been there for Jamie, he’s been this silent guardian, this father figure.”
Heughan added that as an actor, Lacroix has been his best friend and “chief entertainer” on set. He also claimed that Lacroix was the man who will “be drinking the most whiskey.”
Sam Heughan says Murtagh’s death sets up Jamie Fraser’s story for season 6
Heughan says that losing his close friend on the set after Murtagh’s death was a stand-out moment for both him and his character. According to Express, he admits that it helped set up Jamie’s story for season 6, but it was still “traumatic.”
“He really is a lot of fun but also an incredible actor and to lose him that day was quite traumatic for Jamie,” Heughan said. “So then, there was this story of Jamie coming to terms with that and journey through that grief so it’s first of all, it’s shock then it’s anger and all these stages of grief.”
Once Jamie realizes he’s lost his godfather and Governor Trvon confronts him, out comes his emotion, his grief. Heughan noted the scene had “really great writing.”
Heughan says he is excited to see where Jamie goes in season 6. Now that they have years of experience behind them – plus books they haven’t covered – now they can “call back on stuff.” He also pointed out that the addition of other time travelers makes it feel like “the universe is going to open up a bit more” for writers to draw on.
As for Lacroix, he says that filming his final scene was emotional. Not just for the scene, but for the whole experience coming to an end.
Outlander seasons 1-5 are available on Starz On Demand and Amazon Prime Video.
