One Way Outlander's Sam Heughan Pays Homage To What Diana Gabaldon Wrote For Jamie In The Books

With the first peek at Season 6 just released, the Outlander floodgates are officially opening, and fans of the fantasy novel series-turned-major Starz show are seriously excited to see the Droutlander end. Maybe not as hyped as series star Sam Heughan, though, who has been openly pining for the series. Now, he's confirmed that one beloved aspect of his performance as Jaime is an homage to how Diana Gabaldon had written the character in her novels.

It’s kind of hard to ignore the actor's signature look as Jaime Fraser on Outlander, and the star recently responded to a question about one of the facial expressions he uses for the role. He took to Twitter to reveal that the half smirk he wears on his face is due to the fact that Diana Gabaldon describes Jaime as having a “crooked smile.” You can check out the exchange below:

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The Starz series is pretty good about following the books, with some exceptions of course, and it really helps that the actors seem to have read the books. It’s clear that Sam Heughan, at the very least, has read enough of the novels to be able to accurately depict his character. This is something fans who love the novels seem to really appreciate. 

Fans have flooded the comments of Sam Heughan’s tweet with words that solidify his wise choice to bring Jaime’s crooked smile to the TV screen. Many of them say the actor does a fine job bringing the warrior to life, especially where the signature smirk is concerned. While some fans may love the look on Heughan and have previously and seem to now just be discovering it, there are still plenty of fans who picked up on what the actor was doing for a while now. One fan commented that she noticed the subtle ways Heughan was true to his character going back to Season 1. 

The star's dedication to the character of Jaime is certainly commendable and, after playing him for nearly eight years now, there are bound to be bleed overs from character to actor in real life. In fact, the actor has said that it’s sometimes hard to recognize where Jaime ends and his real self begins after finishing up a season of the show. This may be due to the fact that he has taken those extra steps to becoming the character fans fell in love with in Diana Gabaldon’s novels. 

Those who have been missing that classic crooked smile of Jamie Fraser’s are in luck, because, after a lengthy hiatus, the sixth season is finally set to be released on Starz at the beginning of 2022. While the upcoming season is a little short on the episode count, it’s not lacking when it comes to mighty action and romance.

Carlie Hoke
Content Writer

Constantly thinking about books, coffee, and the existential dread I feel from Bo Burnham’s Inside.  While writing I’m also raising a chaotic toddler, who may or may not have picked up personality traits from watching one too many episodes of Trailer Park Boys.