Outlander actor Sam Heughan talks ‘dream role’ in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

Scottish actor revealed his love for Tolkien while appearing on popular US talk show

Sam Heughan doesn’t plan to sit around twiddling his thumbs when the recently commissioned eighth and final season of Outlander comes to an end.

The Scottish actor has been playing Jamie Fraser in the hit time-travel series for around a decade now – and when it comes to an end there’s one role he’s desperate for.

In an interview on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the 42-year-old star revealed that is desperate to appear in a different fantasy series – The Lord of the Rings prequel, Rings of Power.

Outlander actor Sam Heughan has revealed he would love a part in Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.

Speaking to Clarkson, Heughan explained that his hippie parents were huge fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy novels – even naming their children after characters in the books.

“Yes, yes it’s true,” he said when asked if he and his brother are named after Lord of the Rings favourites. “My brother is called Cirdan. Those Lord of the Rings fans that are out there, they might recognize it.

“I believe he was the elf that took all the elves from Middle Earth to wherever the elves go at the end of the book. He was the shipwright.”

Heughan went on to reveal that his own name is short for another Tolkien character. “My nickname is Sam for Samwise,” he said. “I wasn’t christened that but yes, my parents were probably hippies.”

Unsurprisingly, then, Heughan would pick up the phone if Rings of Power’s bosses got in touch.

He said: “These were great influences to me growing up, and I still am desperate to be an elf or a dwarf, so if Rings of Power is still casting, I’m available.”

In his recent memoir, Waypoints: My Scottish Journey, Balmaclellan-born Heughan reveals that his family moved to Edinburgh so his mother could enrol at Edinburgh College of Art.

He writes: “After years of living in a quiet community, my mother, my brother and I packed our belongings for what felt like a whole new world.

“Swapping the stable and the castle ruins for a suburban street in Edinburgh, we set about settling in for this new chapter in our lives.

“It was a big change, but also hugely exciting for two young lads like Cirdan and me. I had just finished at my little primary school, so I started high school at the same time as all my new classmates.

“It was a little overwhelming to begin with, but since I could now see without the dreaded glasses, I soon started to make friends and feel comfortable in a crowd.”

The 12-year-old Heughan attended James Gillespie's High School, which he recalls as having “very strong on rules and discipline”.