First Light with Sam Heughan

Sam Heughan may be a previously unknown actor to most us but he has plenty of acting experience in which he has excelled. There are a number of video's online depicting scenes from  his movies and TV roles but to be honest the one movie I'm most looking forward to seeing is First Light.

The second world war movie is based on a true story and tells the tale of Geoffrey Wellum who was the youngest Spitfire pilot to fight during the Battle of Britain. The story is told by the 89 year old veteran as he tells of his experiences in combat as a fighter pilot and how the terrifying experience changed his live and still haunts him to this day.

Watch the trailer!

Outlander Addicts Unite!

It occurred to me recently that although Diana Gabaldon's books are very popular and we love to discuss them we have no method in which to recognize other Outlander fans who we meet in real life.  It's great "speaking" to people on the various internet venues where we all hang out but I have no idea who, if anyone, in my real life is a fan!  That's why I love this bumper sticker designed by Karen over at Outlandish Observations!

"I'm a fan of Diana Gabaldon" Bumper Sticker by OutlandishObserv

Are You A Heughligan?

It's not the most snappy of titles but a few days ago on Twitter is was decided that we needed a special name to describe ourselves as fans of Sam Heughan and the term "Heughligans" was coined! Whilst I wasn't directly involved (no one liked my suggestions!) I think it's an excellent idea and I can't wait until the name "Heughligan" is as common as "Balehead" and "Twihard"!  As such a brand new website has been formed called Heughligans where you'll find just about anything you want to know about Sam Heughan! 

Introducing Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser!

I'm sure all Diana Gabaldon fans can't have helped but hear the news that Starz has finally an actor to play Jamie Fraser!  The news has been announced officially today after a mighty mistake made the other day when he was named prior to anything being official i.e. contracts signed etc ...

Let me therefore introduce you "officially" to Sam Heughan!

[Youtube video clips are taken from "A Very British Sex Scandal" -  The full movie is here and is in five parts]

I've only seen Sam in this movie and a few experts from other TV work but overall he seems an excellent actor and I truly think he'll be an amazing Jamie Fraser! I feel as if I should have some kind of fanfare as it's seems literally years ago that I started thinking along the lines of an actor to play Jamie and it's FINALLY been decided and I'm so so so excited about it and relieved! I had nightmares that whoever was in charge of the casting would go for a famous actor to boost figure but instead they have really done the story justice by choosing a relatively unkown actor who encompassed everything which is Jamie!!!! 

Why do I like Sam Heughan so much?

• He's Scottish
• He's tall (6'3")
• He's a really versatile actor
• He's young enough to play 23 year old Jamie but mature enough to age
• He's beautiful!
• The most important thing however is that Diana Gabaldon was stunned by the audition tapes and if he's good enough for her he's definitely good enough for me!

 

 
 

Will Richard Madden be chosen to play Jamie Fraser?

Please note that this isn't breaking news! It's just the rumour mill going into overdrive after someone on Mumsnet (or possibly Netmums I get the two muddled up) said that they believed Richard Madden had auditioned and possible been given the role of Himself! IT MIGHT NOT BE TRUE so I dont' want to start a stampede or anything. I don't want to start celebrations in the street or weeping into hankies depending on your point of view.

To be honest my initial reaction was that they had made a big mistake. I have seen him briefly playing Rob Stark in Game of Thrones and he did make me notice that he was quite nice to look at but never once did I think of him as Jamie material. Richard Madden has dark hair and quite swarthy looks befitting Roger or Fergus rather than our redheaded hero and the hair colour is very very important to the plot and under no circumstances can it be altered! However I did a big of googling and found that he his hair has red tints, especially his beard, and he looks really good in the photo below:

 
On a positive note he is genuinely Scottish! He definitely has the cat eyes thing going for him and he's one nice looking young man. Unlike many other candidates he is young enough to play a convincing 23 year old Jamie but masculine enough that he can be aged without too much trouble for the later TV series. Facially he is far from my ideal vision of Jamie but at the same time I can see a lot of potential as with his acting skills he has the ability to become the Jamie in my head. 

There is however one huge issue with him playing Jamie as far as I'm concerned and that is because he simply doesn't have the height. He's somewhere between 5'9" and 5'11" depending on which website you want to believe.  Perhaps with the amazing special effects that we see on the screen these days they can make him appear taller. If they can change Chris Evans to a little puny guy and then into a huge muscled man in Captain America it shouldn't be too hard to add another 6" or so onto Richard Madden's height. 

As fans of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books we have always known that our own personalized visions of Jamie Fraser may differ from that of other peoples. We may on some level realize that our own personal vision isn't going to suddenly materialize into a real human being who is coincidentally going to be an actor and more importantly we all realize that some of us are going to upset no matter who is chosen. However, Richard Madden may not be the Jamie Fraser I see in my head when I read the books but I honestly believe that with a little TV magic he would be able to come a very close second best!




 

My Outlander TV Series Casting Prediction

The recent bout of news regarding the Outlander TV series is nothing short of miraculous considering just how long we have all waited to see Jamie, Claire etc on our TV screens but we are still waiting that vital piece of information regarding exactly who will be cast in the role of Jamie Fraser and the rest of the characters who we love so much! Whilst we are waiting I thought I'd but my head on the block to so speak and tell everyone what my predictions are!

Jamie Fraser - He'll be a unknown actor who has had a few small parts in UK TV but is largely unrecognizable to most Outlander fans. He'll either be Scottish, Irish or English but definitely not American or Australian. He'll see Outlander as a massive stepping stone to jump start his career.

Claire Beauchamp - She will be better known that the actor who plays Jamie but still not an actress who is internationally famous. She'll definitely be English and will have worked on some larger British productions, probably period dramas. She probably won't be one of the multitude of actresses who have been thought of for the part but we'll all be fine with the choice once we think carefully about it. 

Frank Randall/Black Jack Randall - I have the feeling that this role will be taken by a more well known actor who we have all heard of.  There has to be some big names to grab the viewers attention and I'm thinking perhaps the Frank/BJR role will be given to someone such as Richard Armitage or even John Barrowman.

Dougal and Colum McKenzie -  I think this is where we will see the big names! I'm thinking of actors such Sean Bean and Dougray Scott to really bring a bit of experience and quality to the TV show. Even though the characters aren't always at the centre of the action they need someone who is convincing and a strong male actor will do this. 

Rev. Wakefield - Again I think they will put someone with experience in the role of Rev. Wakefield. Someone of the ilk of Jim Broadbent or another household name who will add experience to the mix. 


I am probably completely wrong but I have complete faith in the casting company and the writers to do an excellent job of choosing exactly who will fit the roles perfectly. They may not all be physically how we have imagined the characters to look but hopefully if they are talented enough when carrying out their job we will all be convinced! If they are talented enough they can become the characters!

However, one thing which I am sure of is that Jamie will not be played by either Chris Hemsworth or Gerard Butler! Chris Hemsworth is a huge Hollywood star and it would be impossible for him to tie himself up with a long running TV series and Gerard Butler could never, under any circumstances manage to make himself look so young! 

  [The image above isn't really relevant but I really love it! The image of Jamie is pretty much how I imagine him to look so I would be highly delighted if the chosen actor was similar to him - Original fanart can be found here]

Edited to add: I'm voting for Freya Mavor as Leoghaire!