Scottish actor Jamie Roy was extremely excited to hitch the forged of Blood of My Blood, the prequal behind the lengthy operating Outlander saga. And naturally, the primary season can be a breakthrough function for the 6’1” star, however he additionally tells M&F that enjoying the character of Jamie Fraser’s dad, Brian, offered a chance to inform tales by way of his character’s bodily transformation. Forward of sequence two, we discovered why Roy wished so as to add extra muscle, and the way he shot in the direction of this purpose of creating positive aspects.
Jamie Roy had auditioned however was unsuccessful in gaining a minor function on the unique Outlander, a time touring story of how former nurse Claire Randall is transported from 1946 to 1743’s Jacobite risings. It’s there that she meets Jamie Fraser, and a story of battle and romance ensues. Proving to be an unimaginable hit, Outlander ran eight seasons from 2014 to 2026 and was comprised of 101 episodes. However when producers started casting for the prequel story, Blood of My Blood, they observed that Jamie Roy had greater than a passing resemblance to Jamie Fraser (performed by Sam Heughan). As such, Roy was booked to play Jamie’s dad, Brian, and has now develop into one of many exhibits most featured characters.
“It simply turned out that each one the celebrities had aligned for me,” the actor tells M&F of his immense gratitude for the way destiny has performed its hand in Roy’s success. Nonetheless, with work to be completed, the star left nothing to likelihood as he set about stepping into the most effective form of his life, sacrificing social treats to make a bodily transformation. “So, I used to be forged 5 days earlier than my thirtieth birthday,” shares Roy. “I’d at all times liked the concept of getting a undertaking to get actually, actually lean.”
Luckily, Roy’s calorie deficit paid dividends, and sequence one noticed the actor go shirtless in torturous scenes the place he was flogged, in addition to steamy classes with love curiosity, Ellen MacKenzie (performed by Harriet Slater). However with season two on the horizon, Roy instructed his Final Efficiency coach, Giulio Palau, that he had a unique imaginative and prescient for a maturing Brian Fraser. “I wished the search for the primary season to be fairly lean as a result of he’s a younger boy, basically, in his 20s,” says the star. “However because the seasons go on, I wish to fill Brian out a bit bit extra, as a result of we all know what he appears like as a person, and he’s bigger.”
How Did Jamie Roy Rework His Physique for ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Season 2?
In fact, the trail to creating progress isn’t clean, and Roy tells M&F that he broke his wrist, after which his thumb, delaying however not derailing his preliminary plan for pumping iron. Throughout this time, he’d work on legs, again, or core to maintain the momentum going. “The leg press grew to become my favourite buddy throughout that point” he shares. Then, as Roy recovered, he was in a position to throw himself even deeper into some arduous coaching, absolutely using the net service supplied Palau. “He was unbelievable,” says Roy. “He would make my exercises for me, coaching blocks basically, and he would at all times clarify what the purpose of the coaching block was.”
What Was Jamie Roy’s Excessive-Quantity Hypertrophy Exercise Routine?
Roy says that relying on the filming schedule, he trains three to 4 occasions per week, consisting of round two higher, and two decrease physique classes “And we actually centered on efficiency,” he says of starting this system. “So, I constructed a great foundation, and we discovered that my physique actually responded to only fundamental, tremendous heavy workouts,” shares the star, noting that workouts have been paired as supersets.
For instance, one superset might begin with weighted pull-ups. “Six units of these, with 3 to six reps, supersetted with dumbbell incline press, once more for 3 to six reps,” shares the actor. One other instance may very well be a single arm dumbbell row, supersetted with a barbell bench press for five or 6 units of 6 to eight reps. “So, fairly excessive quantity however low reps,” says Roy. When rep schemes have been larger, say within the 8 to 12 rep vary, depth was at all times maintained by maintaining only a small variety of reps in reserve.
The star additionally took weekly progress images to remain accountable to his coach. “You possibly can see the distinction, so I feel it’s vital to do that,” says the actor, who remained lean whereas including muscle mass by tapering down his 3,000-calorie surplus to the two,000s as taking pictures approached. Nonetheless, as a meals lover, he additionally stayed in steadiness by following the 80/20 rule to stay versatile about any unplanned or “cheat” meals.
Being stronger for the display has not solely added some ruggedness to the Brian Fraser character as Season 2 of Outlander: Blood of my Blood attracts close to, however this added muscle is offering a purposeful benefit too, as Roy is required to be much more bodily this time round, participating in shut fight and wielding a sword in opposition to his rivals. Luckily, he was properly prepped for something that was thrown his means. “Coach Palau actually emphasised the significance of actually good method, so full vary of movement, and holding the stretch, which I actually discovered helpful,” says Roy.
Born in Greenock, this actor is understandably very proud to star in a present that has roots in 18th century Scotland, and he’s desirous to proceed the success of the unique Outlander episodes with the Blood of my Blood prequel. “I feel it’s as a result of there’s one thing for everyone in there,” says Roy. “Between Outlander and Blood of My Blood, there’s love, romance, battle, intercourse, ardour, betrayal. Outlander had the privilege of spanning over eight seasons and now we’re fortunate sufficient to have two, hopefully three. We’re nonetheless ready for the inexperienced mild on that!”
The extremely anticipated season two of Outlander: Blood of My Blood premieres on Friday, Sept 18, 2026, through Starz.
To comply with Jamie Roy on Instagram, click on right here.
