Does Sam Heughan Miss Being a Redhead?
In Sunday night's episode of Outlander, Claire (Fraser) Randall prepared to leave the 1960s and return to the past to look for her Scottish love, Jamie Fraser. Their long-anticipated reunion is going to be incredible - think the opposite of, say, how Titanic ends - but there's one thing we're a little sad to say goodbye to: Claire's magnificent '60s hair, streaked with a little grey, and fashioned into a proud bouffant.
But is actress Caitriona Balfe sorry to see it go? Maybe not. Before the current season aired, we spoke to Balfe and her Outlander co-star Sam Heughan, and we couldn't help but notice that Balfe was sporting some very un-Claire bangs. And Jamie's beloved long red locks (sadly, Heughan isn't a redhead in real life) were nowhere in sight; instead, the actor's curls were shorn 2017-short. Obviously, we had to launch an immediate investigation. Here's what happened when we discussed the hairier elements of their hit series (yes, red Scottish hair included).
So, I have to ask about hair: I’m fascinated by your bangs. You cut it right at the end of shooting, right? Did you do it to say, I'm done with Claire?
C: I think it was a really pathetic mini rebellion. I did it in South Africa. We had another two weeks to go. I cut it myself - I robbed the scissors from the hair and makeup department and I took them home and I just was like [chopping motion]. We have a long season. It’s 10 months; it’s very intense. And sometimes I think you want to own a little bit of your own life, and I think that was my really silly personal rebellion.
S: Everything is controlled. You have great freedom playing the characters, but our lives are so structured, you know, the way you look.
Is it a disguise? Can you now go to the grocery store or walk through an airport and people don't recognize you?
C: I mean, I can do that anyway. Because I’m scruffy in my day-to-day life. They don’t expect a TV actress to be as scruffy as I am, it's great. I’ll be standing with him and people will be like, "Sam, Sam, can we take your picture?" And then, like five minutes later, they’ll like, "Oh!" and realize it's me, because they just think I'm this schleppy...I don't know.
S: I think you always look glamorous.
C: No, I don't.
S: You do.
Sam, is this your real hair color? Are you glad to leave the long, red hair behind?
S: It became part of me.
C: Do you miss it?
S: Maybe, I miss it a little bit. But I also enjoy this [shorter hair]. It’s great. I did it for the new movie I'm in [The Spy Who Dumped Me]. It’s nice to go into makeup [for that] every day and to literally be in there for 5 or 10 minutes. On our show we get so much weathering.
C: A good hour and 45. You’re always dirty.
S: Caked in this stuff, and I have small prosthetics up here [above the eyebrows]. So it’s nice to put a T-shirt and be done.
And all the scars on Jamie's back, so that must take a while.
S: Yeah, just under three hours. It’s part of the character and makes me dread any scene where we’re naked, because that means an extra-early wake-up call. It’s amazing how many scars he's got now.
C: It’s amazing he’s still walking.
S: I know, I've just been so injured in so many ways. I think I've seven or eight other scars, apart from the hundred on my back. My poor makeup artist.
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