Outlander’s Sam Heughan felt it “unsettling” to see just how much he had in common with his absent dad.
The Jamie Fraser actor has opened up on his private life, sharing that his father had left when he was just three-years-old and didn’t actually meet him until 2013 when he was in his 20s.
Living in Canada, Heughan and his brother flew out to meet their dad, David Roger Heughan, where they spent a few days together.
The 43-year-old talked of the moment in his autobiography Waypoints and when asked about it in an interview with Audible, he explained: “He was just not there, he was absent in my life, I knew nothing about him really.
“So for me to go and see him in Canada was a really interesting experience.”
“Partly for an actor, part of my acting brain was like ‘Oh I’m going to use this and discover more about myself’ but the other part of me, I guess the child in me, was pretty anxious.
“It was odd, I think a man that has no influence in my life, I remember I was walking next to him and I realised we had the same movement pattern, the same gait, the same step.
“I thought that was really intriguing and also quite unsettling.
“The book is quite possibly a way for me to sort of put it to rest.
“I think there’s been a part of me that’s not wanted to be him or emulate him but also to accept him and accept that he has been a part of my life, despite not being there.”
The Starz actor wasn’t able to get to know his dad properly, however, as the following year, his dad died of Leukaemia and is now buried in Canada.
Opening up on the experience a couple of weeks after his death to Examiner Enterprise, he said: “I didn’t really know him a lot but I was very lucky.
“I got to spend some time with him just before he died.
“I obviously hadn’t had any contact and knew very little about him, barely knew his name.
“I was lucky that we had this week, which was quite magical and tense and strange…it was very rewarding.”
The end is nigh for Outlander with Starz confirming that the upcoming eighth series would be its last.
There is still plenty of time left though until the last season begins to air with season seven, part two, yet to come out.
An official release date hasn’t been revealed but the time travel drama is expected to return sometime in November 2024.
Source: express.co.uk