Stephen Cree has spoken out about a major change to his character ahead of the new seventh series of Outlander.
The star, who plays Highland warrior Jamie Fraser's brother-in-law Ian Murray, hasn't made an appearance in the time travelling drama since the fourth season.
Thankfully for fans, he is returning to help Jamie (Sam Heughan) and his wife Claire (Caitriona Balfe) to survive the American Revolution in the highly anticipated seventh season of Outlander, coming out this summer, reports the Express.
Cree, who was originally introduced as Ian Murray, has confirmed he'll now hilariously be referred to as 'Old Ian Murray' in future episodes.
The producers apparently wanted to make the distinction between him and Young Ian, played by John Bell, clear, though it was a nasty wake-up call for the 43-year-old actor.
“It was on my trailer as well, Old Ian!” he exclaimed during a chat with GoldDerby.
“I noticed when they announced it in the press, it was like, ‘Steven Cree is coming back as Old Ian Murray’.
“And I was like, ‘No I’m not! I’m coming back as the f*****g original Ian Murray. What are you talking about?’”
While Young Ian has perhaps become the more iconic of the two, Cree still considers himself the originator of the name.
Ian was a continuous character throughout Outlander’s first four seasons but has yet to make another appearance.
Cree was asked to return for season five but was unable to appear due to a scheduling conflict.
When his season seven return was announced, he told the Herald: “I had always made it clear that if they wanted me to come back to tie up anything with Ian Murray’s storyline, I would be happy to.
“It was great that the schedules worked out perfectly last year. To be honest, it was like going back and hanging out with friends.”
When he discovered IMDb now refers to him as "Old Ian", he confirmed: “This originated when I was back doing season seven recently.
“On the script, and on the call sheet, mine was down as either ‘Old Ian’ or ‘the elder Ian’, I can’t remember, one or the other.
“And I was like, ‘When did this happen?’ I am Ian Murray, he’s Young Ian Murray. That’s the way it should be.”
It’s currently unknown if Cree will reprise the role in Outlander’s eighth and final season.
Until then, the epic historical drama will return for an extended seventh instalment this summer following last year’s shortened season.
Outlander series 1-6 are available to stream on LIONSGATE+ in the UK.
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