Outlander's Graham McTavish And Sam Heughan Joke About Starring In The Game Of Thrones Prequel Together, But Now I Need It

graham mctavish outlander dougal starz

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Fans have been loving hearing more about HBO's upcoming House of the Dragon, which is the highly anticipated Game of Thrones prequel. Even though several cast members had been previously confirmed, and we'd gotten to see some of them in character not long ago, there are likely to be many, many more characters and actors who will be revealed as we get closer to the debut of House of the Dragon. Luckily for Outlander fans, one actor who's now been confirmed is Graham McTavish, who played Dougal MacKenzie on the show. He and former co-star Sam Heughan recently joked about starring on the prequel together, but now I do want to see it!

It was just a few days ago that reports surfaced which said Graham McTavish might be heading to yet another franchise favorite with House of the Dragon, but McTavish has now been able to confirm that he is a part of the new series. When asked about the show by Stylist recently, he revealed how it was going, and joked around with Sam Heughan, who was present for the interview, noting:

McTavish: I’m enjoying that, yes. I’m really having a lot of fun. We’ve just started. It’s a very big project, so we’re getting to know each other. They’re lovely people. It’s great, but I can’t tell you too much. I can’t tell you really anything about the story! But it involves a lot dragons.Heughan: Am I in it?McTavish: So far, no. And I have been waiting… I have to say ‘Where is Sam?’ because it’s always in my contract now.

What can I, or any Outlander fan, for that matter, say right now? Do it! Do it! DO IT! As everyone who's become addicted to the 1700s-set adventures of the Starz hit will know, Graham McTavish and Sam Heughan forged quite the friendship while working on Outlander together during Seasons 1 and 2 of the series. McTavish played Fraser clan war chief and uncle to Heughan's Jamie, and while their characters didn't always have the strongest bond (mostly because Uncle Dougal was really kinda shady), the actors who portrayed them got along great.

The friendship between McTavish and Heughan carried over into an Outlander adjacent project which was created by the duo, Men in Kilts. The road trip documentary saw them travel around their homeland of Scotland to discover more of the history and traditions of the country, and them together is nothing short of a dream. Not only do they clearly work well as a unit, it's also obvious that they enjoy a camaraderie which I'd love to see continue on screen in some way.

And, wouldn't House of the Dragon be great for that? We don't know for sure who McTavish will be playing on the new series (rumors point the finger at it being Harrold Westerling, the lord commander of the kingsguard), but surely the writers could find a way for him and Heughan to share at least a bit of screen time to bring some of their friendship magic to the dragon-filled production.

Obviously, Heughan is currently hard at work on Outlander Season 6, but he sounds game to keep their party going and might be able to squeeze in an appearance as a brash member of the kingsguard who makes one too many mistakes and, after being admonished by Harrold, is burnt to a crisp by an impatient Targaryen. I mean, I'm just spitballing, but that sounds like a gold-plated home run idea to me. That one's a freebie, HBO, you know where to find me if you need more help!

Graham McTavish and the rest of the House of the Dragon cast should debut sometime in 2022, but for more to watch in the coming weeks,  check out our guide to 2021 summer TV!

Adrienne Jones
Senior Content Creator

Covering The Witcher, Outlander, Virgin River, Sweet Magnolias and a slew of other streaming shows, Adrienne Jones is a Senior Content Producer at CinemaBlend, and started in the fall of 2015. In addition to writing and editing stories on a variety of different topics, she also spends her work days trying to find new ways to write about the many romantic entanglements that fictional characters find themselves in on TV shows. She graduated from Mizzou with a degree in Photojournalism.