“I think there’s an element of Stockholm syndrome in my relationship with Sam,” jokes Graham McTavish about his “Men in Kilts” co-star/co-producer Sam Heughan. After starring together on “Outlander” for years, the actors are now headlining the new unscripted series for Starz. “I actually have been on two campervan trips with Sam and survived both and survived ‘Outander,’ and yet still seem to be coming back for more,” he reveals during Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts: Reality TV panel (watch the exclusive video interview above).
Speaking about their on-screen love-hate relationship, McTavish says, “[Sam] is actually great fun and he’s very good at taking me out of my comfort zone, which can only be a good thing.” McTavish originally had the idea to do a road trip show “30 years ago” to delve into Scottish history and the clans, and while on the set of “Outlander” he realized Heughan “shared a passion for trying to tell a story about Scotland.”
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The first season, which was filmed during the Covid-19 pandemic, aired at the beginning of 2021. How were the actors able to convince Starz to produce the Scottish-themed reality series? “We self-financed [the pilot],” McTavish readily admits. “We went out on the road over a series of weekends between filming. He and I and a great crew put together what was essentially a pilot episode, which is what we took to Sony and Starz and sold them the concept. And you have the result now.”
When asked about whether there were any topics they didn’t get to in Season 1, McTavish responds, “We did cover a huge circle of Scotland. We went north, south, east and west. There were so many things we shot that we just weren’t able to include — guests that we had, there was just too much [material]. In terms of activities, Sam seriously wanted me to go skydiving with him, but that was a bridge too far.” He then adds, “I was still recovering from the repelling.”
Also in our exclusive video interview, McTavish talks about the possibility of a “Men in Kilts” Season 2, why Heughan was chosen to be the driver of the van, and how Heughan’s infamous skinny dipping scene took place on the “worst day for weather” throughout the entire shoot.
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