OUTLANDER heartthrob Sam Heughan has revealed he felt a huge amount of pressure to look “a certain way” when he first came to Hollywood.
While discussing his new memoir Waypoints: My Scottish Journey earlier this week, the Scots star said that as a young actor he would eat salad and pickles to fit in with people in the business.
The 42-year-old, who was born in Balmaclellan, Dumfries and Galloway, also revealed that he brought on board an intimacy adviser to help with difficult and intimate scenes in Outlander.
He reflected on one particularly brutal scene where, whilst portraying main character Jamie Fraser, he was raped by his nemesis, Black Jack Randall.
Speaking to ABC on Wednesday, he said: “I felt as a young actor I needed to look a certain way, I went through a period where I was not eating right, salad and pickles doesn’t really work and it’s unhealthy.
“There’s a huge amount of pressure to look a certain way and I think we are less vocal about it but it’s important for men to understand it as well and talk up about it.”
The actor, who has been tipped to play James Bond, was also asked what makes the chemistry with co-star Caitriona Balfe seem so real.
Heughan cheekily replied: “If I only knew what that secret sauce was, I would bottle that and sell it.
“Firstly my chemistry with my co-star Caitriona Balfe, she’s an incredible actress.”
Reflecting on filming difficult scenes for Outlander, he added: “I actually brought on board and introduced an intimacy adviser to our set and to our producers which has been an incredible addition, she gives us a lot more tools and makes things a lot more comfortable.
“Ultimately I think the viewers are rewarded because their imagination is maybe sparked more, we don’t have to see as much but we are maybe taken on a journey.”
“I know the ending, I don’t know how long the show will go on for, but we want to tell the story.”
Heughan, who was brought up by his mother, without his father around, added: “My relationship with my father is something that I have never really revealed or talked about much and clearly the lack of him being there has made me the man I am today.
“I think in a way this book was a way of me being able to put it to rest almost, and to realise the effect he had on my life, despite not being there.”
Outlander is currently filming its seventh series.
