‘Outlander’ Star Sam Heughan Reveals He Loves ‘Yellowstone’
Time travel drama Outlander returns for a seventh go-around this summer. The series is currently in filming and post-production, with massive anticipation for the extended season after a truncated season 6. The show attracts a particularly dedicated fandom, but it’s a different prestige drama that holds the attention of the actors working on the show.
Outlander is imbued in English and especially in Scottish culture. But here in the real world, actors Sam Heughan and Duncan Lacroix are immersed in the same show as most of the rest of us: Yellowstone.
‘Yellowstone’ has expanded into a multi-series TV juggernaut
Yellowstone captured the hearts of actors on Outlander in part because it covers similarly violent, even historical themes from an entirely different angle. Where Outlander draws from historical fiction and romance novels, Yellowstone pulls from crime epics and primetime soaps. The main series revels in being tawdry and even silly in a way Outlander avoids, but it’s all perfectly in line with the tone creator Taylor Sheridan is going for, according to The Atlantic.
The multi-generational story of the Dutton family and their famous ranch goes back decades, as portrayed in the spinoff 1883. The early Duttons flee poverty in Texas, seeking a better life. Tim McGraw and Faith Hill play James and Margaret Dutton as they make their way through the fraught, violent Great Plains of the era.
1923 leaps forward to the next generation. The elderly Cara and Jacob Dutton, played by Helen Mirren and Harrison Ford, are in the midst of the first stages of what would become The Great Depression. Knowing the criminal history of the family, they’ll get probably involved in some under-the-table Prohibition-era antics as well. And that won’t be the end of filling in the generational tale: more spin-offs are coming.
‘Outlander’ stars Sam Heughan and Duncan Lacroix love ‘Yellowstone’
It’s not hard to see how Heughan, who plays Jamie Fraser on Outlander, got so wrapped up in the Yellowstone world. Popverse shared a recent Outlander panel to their YouTube channel where the Scottish actor talks up his peers on Yellowstone.
“I just started watching 1883, the Yellowstone prequel,” Heughan said. “It was just incredible. The acting. The storytelling. It just captivated me from the start.”
Lacroix, who plays Murtagh Fraser, voiced his agreement. “I love Yellowstone. But 1883 was so good as a spinoff,” the English actor said, before talking up another series he admires, The Boys. All of these shows are far from what Outlander ultimately ended up being, but all define this current era of popular TV dramas.
‘Outlander’ will have a super-sized season 7
The upcoming summer premiere of Outlander season 7 is being met with a renewed level of excitement. The previous season was shortened so much that key scenes had to be delayed for the future. Many unresolved plotlines will see resolutions throughout this latest run.
CinemaBlend reports the new season will jump from last year’s eight-episode run to a 16-episode season split into two parts. It will largely be based on author Diana Gabaldon’s book An Echo In The Bone. The new focal point is William Ransom, Jamie’s grown son who joins the British military.
The season will also feature plenty of flashbacks. Guest stars will include Graham McTavish, who plays the long-dead Dougal MacKenzie.
Gabaldon has a heavy hand on this season, so each of these returning appearances will be treated with care. She’ll just have to make sure none of the actors wander onto set doing a Great Plains accent after spending all that time watching 1883.
