October 15, 2022
The male lead of the TV series Outlander takes us on a long Scottish hike while recounting the travails of stage and screen. "I'm not hyperactive, I crave down time, but I feel guilty if I'm not...pushing myself in some capacity," writes Heughan, who, sidelined by Covid-19 after shooting an abbreviated sixth season of Outlander, decided to walk the West Highland Way. Running from just north of Glasgow along Loch Lomond and up the U.K.'s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis, before ending along Scotland's west coast, the trail is not for the faint of heart. Neither, writes Heughan, is acting: He chronicles his unsuccessful auditions for many much-wanted roles--e.g., hoping to bring the James Bond trademark back home, he was beaten out by Daniel Craig. Being hammered by rain and cold and pained by blisters and sore muscles are perhaps no less dispiriting than losing a role, but Heughan writes with generally good humor of his experiences, in which, on the trail, he plays the part of the hapless newbie. Still, he enjoys the bucolic solitude, as when he notes, "There isn't a single soul around, unless you count a few hardy sheep in the distance bracing themselves against the gusts." If you want to read solely about tramping around Britain, Robert Macfarlane is the writer you want, but if you have any interest in the art and craft of acting along the way, Heughan offers plenty of notes. "The key to Shakespeare, I learned, is to allow the text to live," he writes. "It's the punctuation and poetry that guides the actor, which makes breathing key to delivery." For all that, it's a treat, after a winding narrative that ranges from exultant to melancholic, to see Heughan on top of Ben Nevis at last. A pleasure for fans of the author, whisky, and Scotland.
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December 9, 2022
The West Highland Way, a nearly hundred-mile trek through Scotland's wilderness, begins in Glasgow, not far from Heughan's home. When the star of TV's Outlander had a rare break in his schedule, he made the ambitious plan to hike 20 miles a day and sleep rough every night--a plan that was sorely tested during his first rainy day and freezing night on the trail. Abandoning his cutthroat ambitions for a more reasonable approach, he learns the value of walking sticks, stays in hotels in the villages along the route, and encounters a few fellow hikers and horned Highland cows. Each section of his mostly solitary walk inspires reflection on his upbringing with his brother and single mom, his slightly meandering path to drama school, his heady early days in theater, and his most recent career successes in television, film, and the spirits business. He reflects on the double-edged sword of fame: he appreciates his fans, but prefers to blend into the background. Heughan is an able storyteller, offering a travelogue that is vivid, meditative, and at times hilarious (at one point on the trail he is caught talking to mushrooms). While fans will appreciate the insights into his life story, armchair travel enthusiasts will enjoy his trek through the ruggedly beautiful highlands.
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