Together with Caitrona Balfe, Sam Heughan has played Jamie Fraser on Outlander for almost 9 years. Heughan went to the 92nd St. Y for the launch of Waypoints, his first memoir and third book overall. Heughan talked for an hour about his very personal book Waypoints, which will come out on October 25.
The memoir follows Heughan on his solo backpacking trip through the Scottish Highlands, which he took after finishing season 6 of Outlander. Heughan admitted that he learned a lot about himself, his family, and his career during this hard trip, and he joked that he might have even talked to mushrooms. There are mushrooms. Nature is good for you! He also talked about being raised by a single mom and his relationship with his father, who left when he was only 18 months old but came back into his life later.
He realized, “I’m not doing what I want to do,” after talking to Richard Madden, who is in the TV show “Game of Thrones.” He talks proudly about his friendship with Balfe and how they worked together on the show. This is why the relationship between Jamie and Claire on screen works so well. He also talks openly about why, after 6 years, he hired an intimacy coordinator for Outlander when he, Balfe, and Tobias Menzies had to figure out many intimate scenes on their own at the start. In an earlier hard scene, he gives hints that his trust was broken.

Heughan says that he is a very private person, so it wasn’t easy for him to write this book. Especially the parts about how he felt about his dad. “I’ve always thought I never wanted to be like him, never have a family, and never leave a family like he did.” Heughan told the crowd some fun facts, like how he got a Boy Scouts badge for knitting as a child because “it’s a very useful skill!” He talks about his past jobs and remembers how Madden from Game of Thrones made him feel down when they met when he was a waiter. “One of my ex-girlfriends used to live there,” Heughan said. At a party, Madden put his glass down on a tray Heughan was carrying, and he didn’t even recognize him. Heughan said that he didn’t feel jealous, but that it gave him an extra push to make acting his career.

After 9 years of working together, Heughan and Balfe have made Jamie and Claire’s love story one of the most popular on TV. Heughan says that the way he and Balfe treat each other is like how Jamie and Claire help each other. “As an actor and a friend, but also as the character, it was my job to support her and take care of her in any way she needed,” he says of Balfe. Heughan also said that Balfe’s recent birthday was the 9th anniversary of their first photoshoot for Outlander. He says that both he and his wife were shocked at first by the attention and fame that Outlander has brought them. “People want to see the story through to the end, and I want to see the story through to the end!” Heughan says this gladly.

On October 25, Heughan’s memoir comes out, and you can pre-order it here.