Outlander star Sam Heughan felt ‘betrayed’ over penis shot in rape scene

Outlander star Sam Heughan has said he felt 'betrayed' after a shot of his penis was initially included in a rape scene on the show.

The actor plays Highland warrior Jamie Fraser in the drama series, and in one particularly grim scene he is sexually assaulted by Black Jack Randall, played by Tobias Menzies.

In his new memoir Waypoints: My Scottish Journey, the 42-year-old reflected on the 'harrowing, exhausting experience'.

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"A clause in my contract required me to film nude scenes," he wrote, as per The Independent. "Even so, this wasn't a moment where I felt that being naked would add to the horror of what Jamie undergoes in that castle dungeon as a form of punishment, subjugation and humiliation.

"I pushed back, reasoning that nudity sexualised a horrific experience for my character, and it sparked quite a debate.

"Creative conversations are a feature of all productions, good art is made by questioning the truth and we all want to get it right."

A compromise was eventually reached, and it was decided he would be 'sprawled on the dungeon stones' naked, following the rape; in the end though, Heughan was grateful the nude scenes weren't used.

He explained: "Those closing scenes were incredibility challenging to film, even though, thankfully the nude shots ended on the cutting room floor.

"It was a harrowing, exhausting experience."

Nowadays, the actor said that the scene - which was shot in 2014 - would have been done differently.

"Times have changed," he wrote. "The c**k shot was unnecessary and did betray my trust in the creative team a bit.

"We don't need to see the horror to imagine what the characters go through. Imagination is way more powerful."

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As a producer on the show, Heughan said that he hired their first intimacy coordinator in order to ensure that the cast weren't 'just thrown in the deep end' like he was.

Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast earlier this year, according to IndieWire, he said: "It's important that everyone is protected, but also we find a way to explore these scenes and actually maybe get something more out of them."

Elsewhere in his memoir, the actor reflected on auditioning for the part of James Bond, revealing that he was unsuccessful because he 'wasn't edgy enough by nature'.

He wrote, as reported by Entertainment Weekly: "I'm always keen to take on criticism so I can improve as an actor, but the suggestion seemed to be that I lacked this quality in my real character.

"I could not see what bearing that would have on playing the role, but it was out of my hands, and meant to be."

Waypoints: My Scottish Journey is out now.

Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey