Believe it or Not, ‘Outlander’ Star Sam Heughan’s Biggest Nightmare Was Once Being ’Naked On Stage’

• Sam Heughan revealed his once recurring nightmare.

• “I was naked on stage,” he said.

• This may come as a surprise to Outlander fans, who know Heughan performs his fair share of risqué scenes in the show.

To peek into Outlander’s Jamie Fraser’s nightmares would likely reveal intense scenes of war, loss, and love, as the warrior’s tragic story boasts all three. His portrayer Sam Heughan’s sleep, on the other hand, is disturbed by a much lighter, but equally terrifying scene. In a new interview with InStyle, Heughan revealed the recurring dream that once haunted him: performing naked.

“I was naked on stage,” he admitted frankly. “Or I would arrive at the theater and I was running late. I didn’t know the lines. I hadn’t rehearsed, but they wanted me to go on and I was literally on stage like, ‘I don’t know what I'm doing here.’”

Thankfully, the 41-year-old was able to conquer the nightmare by making it a reality. “I actually had to be naked on stage for a show and then never had that dream again,” he revealed. Thankfully, he and his on-screen wife Claire Randall (played by Caitríona Balfe) have no shortage of risqué scenes in Outlander. Their love sessions are actually known as some of TV’s most intimate—and it’s a huge draw for the show.

After five seasons of navigating Jamie and Claire’s deep romance, when season 6 came along, Heughan suggested they work with intimacy coordinator Vanessa Coffey to help remediate any awkwardness and find “new ways to convey passion or love, or how a character responds in those intimate situations,” he told InStyle.

In a recent interview with Digital Spy, Coffey explained that the job entails choreographing Jamie and Claire’s sex scenes, while also helping them feel safe and comfortable on-set.

“It is very specific and we come in with a host of movement tools that will really help the actors and support them in helping them make that distinction between character and actor,” she explained.

Coffey first reads through the scripts, and then sits down with the Heughan and Balfe to have open conversation about the scenes. Then there’s a rehearsal before shooting—which happens on a “closed set” where monitors and external sound feeds are turned off. Some scenes are more challenging to coordinate than others, she admitted. But overall, she said Heughan and Balfe have made the job easy.

“There is a lot of trust between Sam and Caitriona already,” she explained. “They had already built up this very physical trust, and relationship between them.”

And just like that, Heughan’s worst nightmare became one of his biggest successes.

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