He was born in the grounds of a Scottish castle and made his name playing a Highland warrior in the wildly popular Outlander. But what is Sam Heughan like as a man? We enlisted Lucifer himself Tom Ellis to interview his old friend
SAS legend Andy McNab taught Sam Heughan “a gazillion ways to kill a man” so the Scots star would look the part as an elite soldier in their new action movie.
Outlander star Sam takes top billing in explosive thriller SAS: Red Notice — which is based on McNab’s best-selling novel.
Sam knows how to use weapons now.
McNab, 61, is a producer for the flick — and the former Special Forces soldier was also hands-on when it came to showing Sam the secrets of deadly combat.
He says: “There’s a place in Leeds that is a close-quarters battle sort of environment.
“We spent time there going through different scenarios — not to do with the film, but just so it looks like Sam had always held a weapon.
Andy was seriously impressed with the action scenes.
“There must have been about 50 (ways to kill) and then on set gazillions quite frankly because they were always coming up with different things.
“But by the time we got to Budapest for filming he already had it cracked.”
It was a serious step up in intensity for Sam, 40 — who previously starred in Battle of Culloden scenes in his role as Jacobite warrior Jamie Fraser in Outlander.
Andy adds: “Sam looks like he knows what he’s doing in the film — and that’s because he does.
Sam has shown he can fight in Outlander too.“The problem was trying to not have him do everything because if he broke an arm that was us f***ed.“We were like ‘Sam, mate, we’ve got to get the double in for this’, but he wanted to do it all himself.Myself and the producers were just closing our eyes and walking away sometimes.“But it was all about making sure it works and looks authentic.”
While Andy was impressed by the star’s dedication, he wasn’t so keen on the Transatlantic emails from the Scots actor, who splits his time between America, London and Glasgow.The war hero adds: “For him it’s about the craft of bringing someone to life, which for me was fantastic - but not at 1am.“When he’s in the States emailing loads of questions you get these pings at 1am!”The film sees Sam, from Dumfriesshire, play Tom Buckingham, an off-duty member of the SAS who is taking his partner Dr Sophie Hart (Hannah John-Kamen) from London to Paris to propose.
But everything goes horribly wrong when heavily-armed mercenaries storm their train inside the Channel Tunnel and hold everyone hostage.
Led by Grace Lewis (Ruby Rose), the villains threaten to blow the tunnel up, leaving Tom as the only person capable of rescuing everyone before it’s too late.
Andy — who served in the elite unit from 1984 to 1993 — has waited almost a decade for the film to be made after SAS: Red Notice came out in 2012.
The Bravo Two Zero writer admits working on the movie — which also stars Andy Serkis — has been a relief after finally getting it up and running.
Andy says: “This is the first time I’ve actually been involved as a full-time producer.
“It’s the first time I’ve gone through the full process of finding actors and finding directors.
The film is based on Andy’s book.
“To get an independent film made is an absolute nightmare so it’s about getting the people that are going to bring the story to life.
“It’s been forever. And it felt like forever. But Sam was the first one we got and he was on it from day one basically.
“I’ve had to buy loads of bottles of his whisky that he’s got out there selling.
"He’s sort of become a mate now.”
The author was amazed by the actor’s skills during filming for SAS: Red Notice and says the Scot is a special talent that should be signed up for the iconic role. He reveals: “Without a doubt he should be the next James Bond. “He’s got it all. He’s far too good looking, far too smart and great at action, why not?” With the combination of action and romance in his movie, Andy hopes that it serves as the perfect audition for casting directors. He adds: “He’s got that emotional capability and he can cry on queue which is amazing. “And then the action proves he can do good action scenes. “Obviously James Bond is high elevated action and all that sort of stuff. “He looks good when he moves, he looks good with a weapon and knows what he’s doing. “He’s got the sophistication and he looks the part. "There’s nothing there not to like. “And he can do it at all as opposed to many other candidates who it would just be purely action or emotional roles - but he’s got them both.”
Andy isn’t the type for insincere flattery — and he genuinely reckons Sam has the three key attributes needed to join the SAS for real.
He says “First of all is determination and he’s got that because he wouldn’t be where he is in his profession without that.
“Married with that is the commitment — the guy is at the top of his game and still he wants to do more because that’s his job.
Sam’s fight scenes with Ruby Rose are epic.
“And the third gold standard is ability which he’s got in spades.”
Andy has previously been diagnosed as a well-functioning psychopath after getting some interesting results from tests at Oxford Uni.
Sam admits he had to really get into the mindset of someone in the SAS to understand how people like Andy operate.
The actor explains: “I was questioning how you play someone that doesn’t necessarily have empathy or some emotions that we would normally use.
The actor didn’t want to use stunt doubles.
"At first I was thinking, ‘Is he just a robot, like, how does this work?’
“But then the more you get into it, the more you realise it’s this board of different dials that can be turned up and turned down.
“In a situation where Tom needs to have zero emotion and be very practical, he can do that.
"But also when he needs to be charming and needs to be endearing to people then he can do that as well.
"Andy McNab is one of the most-charming, funny men I’ve ever met.
Now Sam is hoping the film is a hit with viewers.
He adds: “It is a very surprising movie.
“I don’t think we’ve seen anything like it.”
SAS: Red Notice is released March 12 on Sky Cinema
The phones rang on Friday, one month earlier than expected. More than 50 pro-democracy politicians and activists across Hong Kong received a call from the authorities: they were to report to police on Sunday.
Expecting to be charged and held for lengthy jail terms, many spent the weekend making last-minute preparations. They picked out books to take into custody, arranged for pets to be taken care of, said goodbye to their loved ones. Tiffany Yuen, 27, spent the day at home, where she was photographed cuddling a Buzz Lightyear toy, before visiting constituents in Tin Wan.
“When the police called, I knew it’s bad news,” said one, who spent most of the weekend quietly hugging his child. “I probably won’t be able to hold my kid for some years. I said: ‘You might not see daddy for several years. You have to be brave and look after mummy.’”
Tori
