Sam Heughan, Caitriona Balfe 2018: ‘Outlander’ Sex Scenes All Go Through Discussions and Should Have a ‘Purpose’

Fans found many reasons to love “Outlander” through the first three seasons — the steamy encounters between the characters of Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are likely one of them. However, the actress maintained that all love scenes included in the show were thoroughly discussed and served a purpose.

Just like in other TV shows and movies, Heughan and Balfe have scripts to follow when filming sex scenes. However, the actress explained to Entertainment Weekly that they do more than just follow instructions. The cast and crew discuss and choreograph these scenes and no one can simply improvise.

“There’s scripts and you have to follow what’s in the script, but there’s always a discussion. One of the biggest discussions we all have going into sex scenes is how can we make it have a point and a purpose,” Balfe said about her and Heughan’s sex scenes.

Caitriona Balfe also disagreed to calling her sex scenes with Sam Heughan “softcore porn,” insisting that they are working on a TV show. She added that without those discussions, “Outlander” would be a less impressive show. “So if there’s going to be sex … it has to tell you something about where the character’s at or move forward the story in some meaningful way and we always have those discussions,” Balfe further explained.

On the other hand, Heughan discussed in a separate interview the use of violence and tragic scenes of rape in the show. In a previous episode, Jamie was sexually assaulted by Black Jack Randall (Tobias Menzies). Meanwhile, “Outlander” season 4 is expected to tackle another rape scene, this one involving Heughan and Balfe’s TV daughter, portrayed by Sophie Skelton, and the new villain played by Ed Speleers.

And like Balfe said, Heughan assured fans that the actors sit down to discuss these scenes with the directors and writers and then “rehearse” it prior to filming. "It is very tough and we have to be very careful with it,” Heughan told Digital Spy. “But it is that time period and it was very prevalent.”

Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe’s characters are going to arrive in America where they will later decide to chase their dreams for a peaceful life in “Outlander” season 4. The TV show based on the novel series of Diana Gabaldon returns on Sunday, Nov. 4, at 8 p.m. ET on Starz.