‘Outlander’ Star Sam Heughan Teases Jamie May Need Prosthetics in ‘Huge’ Season 7
Outlander Season 7 — a super-sized season with 16 episodes –is expected to premiere on Starz in the coming weeks. Showrunner Matthew B. Roberts has teased an early 2023 premiere to end the current Droughtlander (eight months and counting!). However, Starz has yet to officially make an announcement and give fans a date. As they patiently wait for that news, star Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser) has revealed that his character may need prosthetics in the “huge” upcoming season.
‘Outlander’ Season 7 will be ‘huge’ says Sam Heughan
Outlander Season 6 was cut down to just eight episodes due to Caitriona Balfe’s (Claire Fraser) pregnancy. So, those last four episodes will be added to the beginning of season 7 — bringing the overall total to 16. Because of the truncated season, things ended on a cliffhanger with Jamie galloping on a horse at full speed trying to save Claire, as she was being taken to jail to await trial.
“It’s Outlander XL, 16 episodes…It’s huge. Claire is in prison, Jamie is seeking to rescue her and we’re dealing with a war of independence in America. It really is action-packed and it’s going really well,” Heughan told Cinema Blend.
During their journey to Wilmington, Richard Brown (Chris Larkin) caught up with the couple and forcibly separated them to take Claire into custody. She is being charged with a crime she didn’t commit — the murder of Malva Christie (Jessica Reynolds).
Sam Heughan teases Jamie may need prosthetics
Throughout the series, Jamie has made a few physical changes due to the aging process and near-death situations. The story began with the character in his 20s, and he is now in his 50s.
The violent, nearly-fatal experiences — when he gets help from Claire and her future medical knowledge — have also changed Jamie’s appearance. While being tortured by Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies), his hand was smashed with a mallet, and he nearly lost the use of it. His finger was also nailed to a wooden table.
Jamie also has deep scars on his back after being flogged multiple times. He received 200 lashings and nearly died when he defended his sister from being assaulted by Randall and his men. According to Heughan, fans will see Jamie go through more physical changes in season 7 — and this time there will be prosthetics. However, the Scot wouldn’t give any more details.
“I may have had some prosthetics done at some point. You might see in the future,” he teased, per Express.
When will ‘Outlander’ Season 7 premiere on Starz?
Filming for the new season of Outlander began in the spring, just as season 6 finished airing on Starz. Over the summer, the showrunner teased a premiere in late 2022 or early 2023. But, according to a September update from Heughan, it may end up being a little later than that.
Heughan tweeted on September 14 that they had finished another block of shooting and were officially “halfway through the season.” Another five months of filming would wrap season 7 around February or March. But then, the supersized season has to go into post-production — which could take another six months or more. There is a small possibility that fans won’t see the end of Droughtlander until late 2023. But we here at Showbiz Cheat Sheet are a little more optimistic — here’s why.
It’s extremely likely that the first episodes of season 7 have already gone into post-production. Instead of making fans wait until the entire season is in the can, Starz could get the first half of the season on the air in the early spring. Then, they could take a short break in the middle of the season to finish up post-production on the last eight episodes. Fingers crossed that Droughtlander will be over sooner rather than later!
Outlander Seasons 1 through 6 are now playing on the Starz app.
