Sam Heughan and Friend at Outlanderworld
Goodness, can’t leave you lot to your own devices for long, can I? [g] Given the amount of traffic I see in the stats for this blog and my Facebook page, I conclude that the Casting Wars are still boiling along.
Well. Look.
1) People are entitled to their own opinions. Naturally, I’d prefer these opinions to be expressed—and received—civilly, but up to you, of course. I believe in the virtues of free discourse.
2) I—of course—am likewise entitled to an opinion. [cough]
Now, my opinion is based on rather more information than most others expressed here, because
a) I created Jamie Fraser and thus—presumably–have a pretty good idea of what he really looks and acts like.
b) While I haven’t yet met Sam Heughan, I’ve seen Rather a Lot of him (about 95%, at a rough guess), both in terms of
a. Photographs, and
b. Film, and
c. Bits and pieces, like audition tapes
Naturally, everyone forms mental images while reading. Everybody. I do it when I read other people’s books, too. Now, I can’t imagine why anyone—having read OUTLANDER—would form an image of Jamie as a 7-foot tall Bozo the clown on steroids, but you know….whatever floats your boat.
Why anyone should expect a film company to a) telepathically extract your personal vision of a character and b) try to replicate that onscreen is one of the Great Mysteries of the Universe, and I’m not about to try to solve it here—I got a book to write, among other things, and there are only so many hours in the day.
So I’m just going to say This about That:
Y’all have not seen Sam Heughan “be” Jamie Fraser.
I _have_.
Now, when they told me who they’d chosen and that they were sending me the audition tapes, I was in the car, driving from Phoenix to Santa Fe with my husband. Unable to get to my computer until we got to Santa Fe, I was madly googling “Sam Heughan” on my iPhone (my husband was driving, I hasten to add).
Frankly, I thought he looked bizarre. He’s 6’3”, that’s fine…very chiseled face, but oddly chiseled, and what’s with the large forehead and cleft chin?!? Jamie doesn’t have a cleft chin and his nose is not all that long, though it _is_ straight…and good grief, I know we wanted somebody who could play a 22-year-old virgin, but this guy hardly looks like he has hair on his behind, let alone the dangly bits…but…
But.
But you know, I _do_ understand what it is that actors do.
(Do you know that, btw? What they do is magic. They can become somebody they aren’t—and their physical outline is just Really Not That Important. (Within limits. Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher is a long way outside those limits…).)
So I sat down at my computer, sort of looking warily through my fingers. Willing to suspend disbelief if I could, but kind of dubious, you know?
So here he is, dark-haired, in a long-sleeved gray T-shirt, and I’m thinking, “Boy, he doesn’t look _anything_ like his IMDB photos, he actually looks pretty human, that’s a relief…”
And five seconds later, Sam Heughan was GONE, and it was Jamie Fraser right there in front of me. True. No costume, no makeup, no props, nothing but cues from an offstage casting director, and…it was him.
He did two scenes. First, a confrontation with Dougal, right after Dougal’s ripped his shirt off in the tavern.
“Devil take ye, Dougal MacKenzie! I dinna owe ye that!” Blazing blue eyes, swelling shoulders, and…bam. Showed this small bit to a (male) friend recently, who blinked at the screen and said, “Man, he’s powerful!” He was.
Second scene was even better; it’s the scene where Jamie explains to Claire exactly why he’s about to punish her. [g] And he had it all: patience, seriousness, annoyance, patience, humor, menace, humor, and…enough sex to drop anyone with functioning ovaries in their tracks.
Now. In the months since then, the production people have been kind enough to show me the occasional glimpse of this or that. I _have_ seen the red hair in its full glory (it took seven tries—and 27 hours in a salon chair, I was told by the victim), and speaking as someone married to a red-head (himself Jamie’s original body model) and with two more in residence…it’s definitely the right kind of red.
Red hair—as I notice a few red-heads have been mentioning—looks Way Different, depending on the light. Unless it’s truly carroty (and Jamie’s is Definitely Not), sometimes it looks almost brown, sometimes it’s red-gold and sometimes it’s all different colors and sometimes it has almost-blond highlights and sometimes…well, let’s put it this way: it doesn’t look like Bozo the clown or Shamus the Wrestler, it looks like Real Hair, just red. (And if you really worry about this, do go and google “red deer images” and _see_ what the heck a red deer’s pelt looks like.)
But beyond the physical details (which are, um…Really Good, and decency prevents me going further, save to say that while Jamie certainly doesn’t look like Thor (gag me with a spoon), he—and Mr. Heughan—look Very Nicely Muscled indeed)….Sam Heughan can _act_. And he totally nailed it.
So. Feel perfectly free to express your own opinions. (I don’t know quite what people expect as a result. Surely they don’t figure that Starz will say, “Oh, no! Robyn MacGillicuddy Stimson thinks Chris Hemsworth should be Jamie! Get Hemsworth’s agent on the phone!” Or at least I hope they don’t think that…) You’ll change your mind in due course.
Or I’ll pay you a dollar. [g]
Thank you so much for everything Diana, including this explanation. I think many people take *this* way too personally and forget to use their imaginations, and to some degree, their common sense. We love Sam. We love Ron. We love you. We love your books. Oh, and I will double your $1 offer to the doubters, if only they agree to pay ME a dollar if their minds do indeed change. I could be a rich woman, aye?
Well said. Jamie is your dream and if you say Sam is Jamie then I am very happy. I have been very happy with what I have seen so far and can’t wait for it to be screened.
I think Sam will make a great Jamie. I can’t wait to see the show.
I absolutely adore you. I’m very excited for the series. I think all the casting has been wonderful. The production company and you – all of you – have been so gracious and patient with us fans by engaging and keeping us as up to date and involved they way you do. What if you suddenly showed up at the workplaces of the unhappy fans and started telling them how to do their job? I think they’d not appreciate it much. Thank you!
BRILLIANT!!
Sorry, Diana, never mind the functioning ovaries, ANYONE of the female persuasion, ( and maybe some of the male persuasion) may well stop, drop and flop in their tracks at the sight of Sam/Jamie, and I really look forward to the show coming to TV! Keep up the phenomenal work!
Eithne
P.S. I happen to like “Thor” (Chris Hemsworth), but Sam IS Jamie!
Diana, you have the patience of Buddha. And if it didn’t sound COMPLETELY creepy and stalkeresque, I’d write that we could be great friends based solely on our mutual inability to suffer fools gladly–and that we both deal with them by speaking slowly in short sentences that use small words.
But that would be awkward, so I won’t. *cough*
Thank you, thank you, and thank you again! Thank you for the Outlander series, which allows me to get lost with Jamie and Claire at a moment’s notice, no matter which book I pick up. Thank you for the HUMANITY of the characters found therein and the full spectrum of emotion that they can connect me to. Lastly, and most importantly, thank you for your astonishing ability to set the record straight once and for all on your feelings on the casting choices made by ‘the powers that be’. Herding cats while in Final Frenzy and being gracious and considerate to your fans only further endears you to those of us who have loved the Outlander series for so many years and have lived through the endless reads of the books dreaming of seeing them come to life on our home screens. You are a class act!
Seriously, I don’t know from what deep well you’ve pulled your patience from, but it’s gotta be mighty deep!! Gabaldon, when you care to send the very best
Hi Diana!
I love your discussions. And, I’m with you. Were I a casting agent, director or producer, my personal opinion might have had some salt. Luckily, I fully support every casting choice made.
Thank you,
Antonella
those of us no longer equipped with ovaries would stop dead, too.
This is why you have legions of fans!!! You speak your mind in a respectful and honest way. Well said!!
Knowing you have had the priviledge of viewing those auditions, if you say Sam is JAMMF, then I know Sam is JAMMF. End of discussion.
Oh, Diana, how I have awaited your response to the whining! This is a perfect reply. I have posted over and over, “if an actor is worth his salt, what he looks like won’t matter one whit!” I’m tired of hearing about Caitriona’s eye color, her lack of an arse, Sam’s hair color, etc. Your response is perfect, perfect, perfect! Thank you, as always.
And this, ladies and gents, is why Herself rocks!
Hi Diana.
And thanks. Like Sam for Jamie or not, just make some kind of sense is all I’m asking.
Anyways, I’d like to take a moment to mention that there are thousands upon thousands of readers who are pleased with young Mr. Heughan and Co. The production company,the actors and you are very well aware of that and have welcomed us with open arms, and we them. We seem to be in the majority so it’s always nice to have them and you acknowledged that with a little appreciation. You’ve always been that way Diana, and now the series prodcution cast and crew are likewise fun and approachable.
Everyone connected with this project has been so nice to us fans and I hope we pass that forward to newcomers to the Outlander world on the internet. Yes, people can be uncivil [I don't bother with them] – but sometimes people can simply have a different opinion, be unoboservant or, well, wrong. We can be nice to them too.
So, once again, thanks.
Even for those of us with nonfunctioning ovaries, Sam’s the guy. Actors are the most wonderful of creatures. You are a saint to address this issue yet one more time. Thank you for a great read!!!!!
As you have taken me on the most amazing journey since the very first page of Cross Stitch (Outlander) through to the last in Echo in the Bones I am absolutely trusting your approval of casting for Jamie….also have to say Sam does it for me. Thank you for your brilliant and creative work. I have loved it all and I cannot wait to see your characters come to life on the screen. Cheers x
No one can be the Jamie we’ve pictured in the books, because he’s different for everyone. However, that being said, I’m relieved Sam is relatively ‘unknown’ because I don’t want an actor with former characters getting in the way. I love what you’ve written about this, you said it perfectly (of course).
i ‘hear’ characters more than ‘see’ them – i think he looks very much like i’d imagine Jamie would-i trust the author to know her man though
now, to hear him -
First of all thank you for taking the time to give us your impression of Sam. After reading what you wrote I for one can’t wait to see the real thing. And Diana you nailed it- producers cannnot be expected to extract our personal visiom of who these characters are – first of all I dare say each of us has our OWN personal vision to begin with, and second- an actor’s job is to make you forget all about your own vision and feel that noone but this person could be Jamie or Claire or whoever- if they do it right- this become your new vision of these characters. I trust your vision Diana, it’s not let me down yet. I would ask though is there ANY hope of seeing even a short clip of Jamie in action to help our new vision along
I understand if this can’t be done but never hurts to ask right? I suspect once we see what you saw- even a glimpse everyone will be on board.
Well, call me ignorant or stupid, or possibly both, but I think it will be amazing. I know sometimes Hollywood doesn’t always do the best job (the second Dumbledore comes to mind), but the start miniseries usually are very good. I can’t imagine wasting my time arguing about this stuff, or worrying about it either. I prefer to believe, (in my naive state of being), that they will hold true and the actors will do their best to portray the characters in a way that will bring them from the pages of the story into a 3 dimensional being.
And BTW, Diana, I am one on those redheads, and you are spot on–though if your husband is then you certainly do have first hand experience. My husband swears I had brown hair when we first me, then said I must have dyed it. :-). Got it from my dad, and he from his mother.