The Big Picture

• Filming Outlander's final season has been an emotional journey for Sam Heughan, who has been with the project since the beginning.
• The show's immersive storylines, incredible landscapes, and attention to detail have created a deep emotional connection with the series for the actor.
• Looking ahead, Heughan teases new characters and sets in the final season, leading to mixed feelings about saying goodbye to Jamie Fraser.

Regardless of which era of human history one might be born into, it would seem there always exists a fascination with what came before. In STARZ's historical drama, Outlander, we experience an epic tale of love, passion, and family through the eyes of World War II nurse, Claire Fraser (Caitríona Balfe) and her 18th-century lover, the Scottish warrior, Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). It's been almost a decade since the first episode premiered on August 9, 2014, and multiple storylines, time travels, and continents later, the final chapter of Outlander is being written with production on the eighth and final season already in full swing. Heughan is one of the individuals who has been with the project since its inception, and watching it draw to a close has been an emotional ride.

The character of Jamie Fraser is one of the strongest characters on the show, second only, perhaps, to that of Claire Fraser. Speaking during a panel at The Land Con 6, Heughan opened up about how much working on the final season has affected him. “We are shooting the last season… Season 8. We’ve now shot three weeks," he notes, then admits, “It’s really hard for me. We had a read-through where… all the cast sits around a table, and we read the episode so that everyone can hear it, but they made it a very special occasion.”

Much of the allure of Outlander comes from the incredible landscape views of the Scottish Highlands, the level of detail given to the culture of the time period, and of course, its immersive storylines, all of which Heughan has developed a deep emotional connection to. “We were on a castle set, so we’re in this magnificent castle in the studio, and they had a bagpipe player… they were playing ‘The Skye Boat Song,’ the theme tune, and I just… I was gone, I started crying,” Heughan revealed.

'Outlander' Lives On in a Spin-Off Series

Heughan and Balfe are practically synonymous with Outlander, so it makes Heughan's feelings towards the final season quite understandable. “There are so many memories. It has been almost 11 years of my life, I have so many friends, so many amazing memories, it’s gone so fast… so yeah, it’s gonna be really sad when we finish. But also it’s bittersweet, we’re very happy," he revealed.

Before the final season arrives, the second batch of episodes for the seventh season still has to arrive with a release window of November 2024. Looking ahead to the final season, Heughan teased, “We have a cool story, new characters, new sets, a new director called Caitríona Balfe… Yeah, she’s doing really well.” And although it’s “gonna be hard to say goodbye to Jamie,” the actor admits there is still a lot to look forward to. When Jamie and Claire's story draws to a close, we begin another adventure with the prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood.

Outlander Season 7 Part 2 premieres in November 2024. Stay tuned at Collider for more and catch up with previous seasons on Starz. You can watch footage from the panel via RosterCon below.

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