Season 6 of Outlander recently wrapped production, and Sam Heughan, who stars as Jamie Fraser, has wasted no time lining up his next role in a major motion picture. Heughan will star along with Ewan McGregor and Mark Strong in the upcoming adventure thriller Everest, according to Deadline.
The film, loosely based on the Jeffrey Archer novel Paths of Glory, takes place in 1921 and follows the true story of English mountaineer George Mallory (McGregor), who was selected by the Royal Geographic Society to scale the previously unconquerable Mt. Everest. Heughan plays Mallory’s real-life rival, Aussie George Finch, who is also determined to make it to the top—not for king or country, but as a test of self.
Mallory took part in the first three British expeditions to Mount Everest in the early 1920s and disappeared atop the famous peak in 1924 at the age of 38. His fate remained unknown until a search expedition discovered his body on May 1, 1999; whether or not Mallory and his climbing party made it to the summit before their deaths is still unknown.
Finch, on the other hand, lived to be 82 and was the first person known to climb to a height exceeding 27,300 feet, although he still never reached Everest’s apex.
Heughan is no stranger to thrillers. In his most recent film, SAS: Red Notice, he played Tom Buckingham, a wealthy scion of the British aristocracy, who disappoints his parents by becoming a ministry man, which translates to Special Forces. The film is based on the Andy McNab novel of the same name – and there could be a sequel!
“I think we will want to explore the character more because, by the end of the movie, it’s only really the beginning for Tom,” Heughan told Parade.com. “He’s just discovered that he’s a psychopath really and that he also has emotion, so that’s an intriguing place and it would be fun to explore what that means for Tom and where he goes with this new knowledge.”
Outlander Season 6 is slated to return in 2022. Everest will start filming in the U.K. and Italy on January 22, 2022.
Source: parade.com