Outlander star Sam Heughan says ‘Edinburgh opened up the world to me as a teenager’

He's become hot property thanks to his role as Jamie Fraser in the phenomenally popular Outlander series – but Sam Heughan has said moving to Edinburgh as a teenager shaped him into the person he is today.

In a new interview with Square Mile, a men’s luxury lifestyle magazine for London, the Balmaclellan-born star was asked if he could think of a moment or experience that influenced who he is as a person today.

The 42-year-old actor replied: “I guess when I moved to Edinburgh.

“I was living in the countryside as a young child, there were four people in my class at school. And then I moved to Edinburgh, which to me felt like a metropolis. I started going to the theatre.

“Just being in the city was really inspiring. It opened up the world to me, as a teenager. There’s a whole world out there that I want to explore.”

It’s not the first time Heughan has spoken of his love for Scotland’s capital city.

In the past, he said he owes a lot of his success to the Edinburgh Steiner School, where he studied over 20 years ago.

During an interview with the prestigious school a couple of years back, Heughan opened up about his time there and how it helped him as an actor.

Sam Heughan has said moving to Edinburgh as a teenager shaped him into the person he is today. Photo: Robert McFadzean/Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

He said: ”Looking back on it, It was a really good time, a really warm time, it felt like a really safe environment. There was a real bond between not just the teachers but the students too.”

Elsewhere in the interview with Sqaure Mile, Heughan talked about his love for Scotland in general, saying it’s his happy place.

“With my job, I love working, I love travelling, but it’s probably coming back to Scotland.

“I have a great fondness for Scotland. It has so many good things. So it’s probably hiking in Scotland. Hiking and sharing a dram.”

Next year, Heughan will be seen on the big screen when he stars in a new rom-com.

It's All Coming Back To Me is slated to be released in cinemas on February 10, 2023 – in time for Valentine's Day.

In a picture posted to Instagram last month by Sony Pictures, the Scots actor is seen with co-star Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

The movie is based on Karoline Herfurth's 2016 German film SMS für Dich.

In it, Priyanka plays a young woman who copes with her fiance's death by texting his old mobile phone number, now owned by another man played by Heughan, who is also trying to recover from a broken heart.

The two bond over text and attempt to find love again.

Heughan also recently admitted he would love to be the next James Bond, saying it’s every actor's dream to play 007.

Speaking to the Radio Times, Heughan recalled auditioning to be the iconic spy prior to Daniel Craig's official casting in October 2005.

“I met [producer] Barbara Broccoli and [Casino Royale director] Martin Campbell,” he said.

“I did a scene and they had the gun from The Man with the Golden Gun on the table and I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is incredible’.

“It was surreal,” he added. “He’s a character we’ve all grown up with.”