‘Outlander’ star Sam Heughan talks new role in ‘The Couple Next Door’

Fans will get a double dose of Sam Heughan Friday night. Right after Outlander’s season 7 finale airs on Starz, Heughan’s new show, The Couple Next Door, debuts its first episode on the channel.

Heughan stars as Danny, a husband with secrets, in the steamy relationship drama about two married couples who become entangled in each others’ suburban lives. While many fans would argue Heughan’s Outlander character Jamie Fraser is the perfect man, the Scottish actor tells ABC Audio it was refreshing to play a man with flaws in The Couple Next Door.

“I think it's actually somehow more interesting,” he says. “Jamie Fraser always knows what to do in most situations. And that's a great character to play. But it's really interesting to play someone who's maybe more morally ambiguous and makes bad decisions. Perhaps too many of them.”

Danny and his wife, Becka, played by Jessica De Gouw, are at a “crisis point” in their relationship just as a beautiful couple – played by Eleanor Tomlinson and Alfred Enoch – move in next door, making their lives all the more complicated.

“It's make or break for them, I think,” Heughan says. “And this new couple coming in obviously is refreshing and new energy and new life and they welcome them into it. But it also has obviously big consequences.” 

The Couple Next Door airs on Starz Fridays at 9 p.m. ET.

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