We are now, finally, very close to the premiere of the new season of Outlander, with it joining the 2023 TV schedule on June 16. As those who follow the series know, much of the cast and crew, including stars Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan, have become quite close after working together for the past decade, and on a show with some famously intense scenes and some of television’s sexiest romantic moments. So, it makes sense that Balfe would have a pet peeve about her on-screen husband. Not only did they just argue about it, but I’m not sure who I agree with more.
What Is Caitríona Balfe’s Pet Peeve About Sam Heughan?
I realize that it can sometimes be difficult to fully separate actors from the character they’ve portrayed for a long time, especially when those actors are like Balfe and Heughan and seem to gleefully enjoy a real life friendship. Though they’ve done things like celebrate the anniversary of when Outlander first aired, with him saying Balfe is like a “sister and best friend” to him, there does appear to be a sticking point between them.
While speaking with the Happy Sad Confused podcast recently, however, the Belfast actress revealed that she’s not too thrilled with Heughan’s refusal to call her, as he only leaves voice notes. After they argued about it, though, I really don’t know who’s position I support more:
Balfe: If you’re going to spend the time talking into the phone, just fucking call me. It’s not a monologue. It should be a conversation.
Heughan: Counter argument here, I don’t have time to call you and I don’t really want to call you.
Balfe: Exactly, that’s the point. It’s a fucking bullshit call. It’s like, ‘I kind of want to say something but I don’t really have time for you, so I’m just going to talk at you.’
Heughan: You like to text and texting you lose a lot of intonation, you lose the tone. Also with a voice note, you can leave someone a beautiful message, they can hear your voice, and they can reply in their own time. It’s a lot more personal than a text.
Balfe: Or call, and just have a fucking conversation.
First off, if anything, it’s very clear from Balfe’s salty language (which I totally approve of) that her co-star’s tendency to avoid actual phone conversations is really a problem for her. Secondly, while I agree with her basic argument (if you're gonna be talking into the phone anyway, it makes sense to just call), I also can’t fault the Love Again star’s position in this battle.
On its face, it likely sounds rather rude for him to succinctly say that he doesn’t have time to call his friend, or even, in fact, want to call her. But, really, who actually wants to talk on the phone? Is that a thing that people enjoy? I don’t know every person in the world, but I’m gonna say no; no one truly likes making phone calls or talking during them, even with people we really want to speak with. Heughan is just being honest and saying what we all think, so, kudos to him.
Also, he makes a very good point about texting. It can be very easy for the person on the other end of your missive to mistake a joke or sarcasm for something more serious, for example, because you can’t get the tone across as easily as with your voice. Though, I will say, I do prefer all written forms of communication to doing anything with my live, actual voice, but maybe that’s because I’m literally a writer, whereas the man who’s played Jamie Fraser for seven seasons actually talks for a living.
Look, I like both of these people, so I’m just hoping that because this argument over phone calls/voice notes hasn’t already broken their friendship beyond repair, it never will.
