Outlander’s Sam Heughan on the benefits of the Droughtlander

Outlander is back in T-minus 10 days! The Droughtlander is nearly over, everyone, after an entire year of waiting! And while the Droughtlander is no fun for the fans, Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser) does see a lot of personal benefit in it.

Season 4 of Outlander completed production in July 2018 and aired its finale in January 2019. Season 5 began production in April 2019. Talk about long gaps!

However, that does give the cast members chances to do other work, as Heughan pointed out to Digital Spy.

"For me, personally, it’s been fantastic. It opened a lot of opportunities. I shot two movies in the hiatus last year. […] I actually think it’s necessary for me as an actor to go and do something different. I’ve been doing [Outlander] for six years now and so it’s good to go and stretch myself and try new things."

And he’s not the only one! Caitriona Balfe (Claire Fraser) took some time during her Outlander hiatus to film the Oscar-nominated Ford v Ferrari. Good things do come from the Droughtlander, guys!

Anyway, Heughan continued to sing the Droughtlander’s praises. “It’s fun because it actually energizes you and when you come back,” he said. “Every other job I did, I felt like none of them were as hard as Outlander and none of them ran as smoothly as Outlander because Outlander is such a good [show] – we’re such a tight community now. […] So it’s been a great proving ground, a great learning ground.”

Naturally, many are curious about whether the hiatus between seasons 5 and 6 will be as long as the one between 4 and 5. what do you think, Heughan?

"I’m not sure the exact dates at the moment, but I think it might be the same. There will be a Droughtlander but they can go see my movies."

In any case, we have plenty of Outlander to look forward to as season 5 kicks off on February 16!

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