The season six opener of Outlander aired yesterday on Starz, starting a new chapter in the story of Jamie Fraser and his time-traveling Sassenach. In a recent chat, Sam Heughan (Jamie) has explained why they brought an intimacy coordinator for the steamy scenes in the upcoming run.
Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe (Claire) have been an on-screen couple since the show’s conception back in 2013. And as fans of Diana Gabaldon’s novel series will tell you, the story is kind of famous for its intimate romantic scenes between the star-crossed lovers, an element that has been translated to the small screen in earnest through Starz’s adaptation.
This ultimately leads us to wonder why after so many years and shooting dozens of these scenes together, the two stars suddenly felt the need to bring on an intimacy coordinator for season six. Well, here’s what Sam Heughan had to say on the matter in a new interview with Digital Spy.
“It’s a relatively new thing in the industry, and obviously there is a great deal of intimacy on our show,” he said. “In a way, it had kind of been left to Catriona and I to just sort of work our way through. Obviously, we have got a way of working and we have created this relationship, but also we realized quite quickly when she came on board that actually, it’s a lot of pressure and she really helped us work through those scenes.
“She also helped maybe move the scenes on and maybe add more to them that maybe we didn’t know how to do in the past, so it has been a really welcome addition I think, also for the younger actors that also have to do intimate scenes. It just takes out a lot of the pressure and fear and hopefully makes those scenes more enriched.”
At least fans can now rest assured that Heughan and Balfe haven’t had a falling out, and their on-screen chemistry remains intact. If anything, the Scottish actor seems to think the inclusion of an intimacy coordinator has actually enhanced those raunchy scenes, so we might see that influence as this latest outing continues to unfold through the next two months.
