Sam Heughan has revealed he watched iconic rom-coms for the first time after thinking they 'weren't for him' in preparation for his new movie.
The Outlander actor, who has been playing Jamie Fraser on the hit show since 2013, is starring alongside Priyanka Chopra-Jonas and Celine Dion in Love Again. The film will see Heughan, 43, portray journalist Rob Burns who begins receiving unexpected romantic text messages from an unknown number.
Chopra-Jonas, 40, will take on the role of grieving Mira Ray, who still sends a flurry of devoted text messages to her ex-fiancé's phone number - which unbeknownst to her has been reassigned to Rob.
The upcoming movie role is something outside of Heughan's comfort zone as he is best known for his fantasy and action roles, but decided to watch some of the most iconic rom-coms to help him prepare.
“As soon as I started to watch them, I fell in love with them,” he told Parade. “They're brilliant, they're adult, they're funny, they're dark. It was a revelation to me. My favourites were probably the Nora Ephron films, anything with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.
"In fact, You've Got Mail, I think, is quite similar. Essentially, this movie is almost an homage or the best bits of other romantic comedies.”
“It read so, so well,” Heughan gushed over the script. “It's a very funny, very tight script and I just thought, ‘really, really nice characters, really rounded characters, really pleasant love story that I think that we all need in this day and age.’”
He adds: “The story, I think, will appeal to everyone, it really has everything. Obviously, there’s the humour but also these characters are rooted in grief, in some sort of pain, that they both have to get over.
"They both are in their own bubbles, essentially, and they learn to love again and to live again.”
The Scots actor has gushed over his on-screen love interest, and described Chopra-Jonas as “warm, generous, and a fun acting partner". The Bollywood icon's real-life husband Nick Jonas will also be making a cameo appearance in the movie, as someone she has a bad date with.
Celine Dion will be making her acting debut in Love Again alongside Heughan and Chopra-Jonas, as he gushed over the music legend. He said: “She's done so much, so yes, it was obviously a big draw of the movie when I found out that she was on board.
"I am so excited to present this to the world for people to discover her if they don't know her and, if they don't know her, where have you been? I think the fans of Céline Dion are going to really enjoy this movie.”
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