1 of 5 | Sam Heughan stars in “The Couple Next Door,” premiering Friday, the same night that his other TV show, “Outlander,” wraps up its seventh season. Photo courtesy of Starz
NEW YORK, Jan. 17 (UPI) — Outlander icon Sam Heughan says he was happy to trade his 18th-century breeches and waistcoats for some more casual 21st-century attire in the new romantic thriller The Couple Next Door.
“It’s so nice to be in a T-shirt and shorts,” Heughan told UPI in a Zoom interview Tuesday. “It was a joy, yes, and not as long a call time [for hair and makeup], which is great.”
“Yoga gear! Just wearing athleisure wear for a few months was a delight, actually. You could bend, sit, take a nap,” added his Couple Next Door co-star Jessica De Gouw, who recently starred in the period pieces Underground, Pennyworth and The Artful Dodger.
In The Couple Next Door, Heughan and De Gouw play Danny and Becka, married suburban swingers intrigued by their buttoned-up new neighbors Evie (Eleanor Tomlinson) and Pete (Alfred Enoch).
The Starz series premieres Friday.
“For me, the most important thing was sitting with with Jessica and working out where these characters were, how they have got to this situation in their lives,” Heughan said.
“What is the protocol and what are the rules that Danny is so desperate to fight for? But, also, the ones that he keeps breaking,” he added, referencing his character’s relationship with Becka. “So, I think working with our fellow actors was definitely the best way into this.”
De Gouw credited David Allison’s writing for giving them glimpses into the heads and hearts of their characters.
“The script is a good place to start. A lot of it is already there on the page for you in terms of foundation, in the ways they interact in their relationships,” she said.
“But, also, having the opportunity to briefly sit down and work through it all as a cast and with Dries [Vos], the director, we really got into the nitty-gritty of these characters and sort of the nuances of who they are and what they’re going through.”
De Gouw said she tried to understand where Danny and Becka were coming from, rather than hold them to any specific moral code.
“If we judge these characters, then it doesn’t work because they are actively choosing a lifestyle and they’re making choices that feel right for them,” she added.
“Obviously, they get themselves in a tricky situation, but there’s a lot of thought and history between these two and the way they choose to live.”
Danny and Becka previously had to agree upon who else they bring into their relationship and how seriously they take their extramarital activities, so tension arises after Danny fails to play by the rules.
“They’ve had this past history and they had a set of rules or guidelines, but I think the most important one is about truth and being truthful with each other and the moment that Danny chose not to tell the truth fully is the moment that this starts to disintegrate,” Heughan said.
“It is really interesting. We’re seeing them begin to learn about each other again and to communicate about their situation and to try and find common ground and, ultimately, I think this is the romance of the piece. Will they be together? I think they love each other very much.”
De Gouw joked that there is a “lot of swooning” when Danny and Becka first meet Evie and Pete.
“They’re happy. They’re excited there is ‘fresh blood,’ no, there’s ‘new life’ on this rather stale suburban street,” Heughan said.
“There’s definitely not much hanging out with the neighbors, though they do know everyone’s business, but I think Danny and Becka are just excited to have new friends, people that they’ve got something in common with.”
As Danny and Evie quickly transition from friends to lovers, Danny’s relationship with Pete is strained.
“There’s animosity at first,” Heughan said.
“There’s also a friendship and a bonding later on,” he added. “It’s also great to see the evolution of Alfred’s character, Pete, kind of rising to the challenge and taking control, and I think that’s surprising for Danny. It’s a real nice plot twist, as well. Initially, there’s this sort of ‘bro standoff’ that becomes an understanding, but we had a lot of fun playing those scenes because they’re such idiots at times.”
Friday also marks the Season 7 finale of Outlander.
The action-packed season saw Heughan’s Scottish character, Jamie, and his British wife, Claire (Caitriona Balfe), return from their adopted home in the 18th-century American colonies to Jamie’s native Lallybroch, where Claire’s identity as a time traveler from the 20th century is finally revealed to Jamie’s family.
“It was so lovely to go back,” Balfe recently told UPI in a separate round-table interview with reporters.
“Lallybroch has played such a huge part of our show and is so integral to our storytelling for so long, that going back there, to that location was so special.”
The visit also brings Claire closer to Jamie’s family, particularly his sister Jenny (Kristin Atherton) and brother-in-law Ian (Steven Cree).
“I think any time you have secrets between people, it stops them fully connecting and, for Claire and Jenny especially, I think this was a real shift in the direction of their friendship and their relationship as they can now be closer.”
Heughan said he believes fans liked seeing the couple back in Scotland, where they met and fell in love in Season 1.
“It’s a huge part of who Jamie is and I think he’s always wanted to go back,” Heughan said.
“Obviously, his new home now is America and he’s committed to that, but [it was really great] to go back and see his family, to see Jenny and Ian,” he added.
“Things there are not what they’re expecting, which is surprising for [Jamie], but then there’s also a lot of other characters that we meet again and there’s a lot of memories, a lot of relationships or situations that need to be tied up for Jamie to have peace and to be able to move forward.”