Yahoo Lifestyle Sam Heughan Insists the 'Outlander' Horse Is 'His' After Jonathan Bailey Lays Claim on Him for 'Wicked' (Exclusive)
Just like Outlander, Sam Heughan's new Starz show, The Couple Next Door, has put the actor in some dangerous riding situations, only instead of them taking place on a horse, they take place on a motorcycle.
The six-episode limited series follows two married couples whose lives become entangled as they start to explore some of their darker (and more erotic) impulses. Heughan plays Danny, a traffic cop who can often be found on a motorcycle. A "keen motorcyclist" himself, Heughan was more than prepared to do some of his own riding for the show. But despite his confidence behind the proverbial wheel, some scenes—namely those involving costar Eleanor Tomlinson, who plays his love interest and neighbor, Evie—made him nervous to shoot.
"One of the the episodes, I actually have to drive with Eleanor on the back of the bike, and that was kind of nerve-wracking because it was nighttime, and we were following the Steadicam on the back of a truck," Heughen exclusively tells Parade. "I was just very aware of having someone very precious behind me. And normally when you're on your own, riding a motorbike or a horse [like on Outlander], perhaps you're a little more brave."
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Still, riding a motorcycle is a piece of cake compared with riding a horse. "Horses are certainly a lot more unexpected," he explains. "You never know where you are with them." But that's not to say the horses on Outlander are anything less than professional. "To be honest, the horses on Outlander are just way more competent at acting than I am," Heughan says. "My horse has a lot more acting credits than I do."
In fact, his four-legged costar, Jack, recently got some press for working with Jonathan Bailey on both Bridgerton and Wicked. As Bailey revealed in interviews of his own, the actor requested the horse on the musical movie after enjoying his time with him on the Netflix romance. And, yes, Heughan felt a little jealous that Bailey was laying claim to his longtime co-star.
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"I'm like, no, wait a minute. Jack is my horse, because I've been riding Jack whilst we've been shooting Outlander," Heughan jokingly tells Parade. "But apparently he's been moonlighting on this other show that, of course, you know, isn't nearly as as entertaining and full of action as ours is."
"Scandalous, Jack," he quips.
When he's not on a motorcycle for The Couple Next Door, Heughan might be found running through the woods late at night—another form of transportation his latest character has in common with Jamie Fraser.
"One of my biggest credits is running at nighttime, in the mud, in a forest," Heughan says. "They never tell you why that when you go to drama school, that [running over terrain] is going to be actually the most challenging thing you do."
New episodes of The Couple Next Door air on STARZ at 9 p.m. ET.
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