Scottish actor Jamie Roy was highly excited to join the cast of Blood of My Blood, the prequal behind the long running Outlander saga. And of course, the first season would be a breakthrough role for the 6’1” star, but he also tells M&F that playing the character of Jamie Fraser’s dad, Brian, presented an opportunity to tell stories through his character’s physical transformation. Ahead of series two, we found out why Roy wanted to add more muscle, and how he shot towards this goal of making gains.
Jamie Roy had auditioned but was unsuccessful in gaining a minor role on the original Outlander, a time traveling story of how former nurse Claire Randall is transported from 1946 to 1743’s Jacobite risings. It is there that she meets Jamie Fraser, and a tale of war and romance ensues. Proving to be an incredible hit, Outlander ran eight seasons from 2014 to 2026 and was comprised of 101 episodes. But when producers began casting for the prequel story, Blood of My Blood, they noticed that Jamie Roy had more than a passing resemblance to Jamie Fraser (played by Sam Heughan). As such, Roy was booked to play Jamie’s dad, Brian, and has now become one of the shows most featured characters.
“It just turned out that all the stars had aligned for me,” the actor tells M&F of his immense gratitude for how fate has played its hand in Roy’s success. Still, with work to be done, the star left nothing to chance as he set about getting into the best shape of his life, sacrificing social treats to make a physical transformation. “So, I was cast five days before my 30th birthday,” shares Roy. “I’d always loved the idea of having a project to get really, really lean.”
Fortunately, Roy’s calorie deficit paid dividends, and series one saw the actor go shirtless in torturous scenes where he was flogged, as well as steamy sessions with love interest, Ellen MacKenzie (played by Harriet Slater). But with season two on the horizon, Roy told his Ultimate Performance coach, Giulio Palau, that he had a different vision for a maturing Brian Fraser. “I wanted the look for the first season to be quite lean because he’s a young boy, essentially, in his 20s,” says the star. “But as the seasons go on, I want to fill Brian out a little bit more, because we know what he looks like as a man, and he’s larger.”
How Did Jamie Roy Transform His Body for ‘Outlander: Blood of My Blood’ Season 2?
Of course, the path to making progress is never smooth, and Roy tells M&F that he broke his wrist, and then his thumb, delaying but not derailing his initial plan for pumping iron. During this time, he’d work on legs, back, or core to keep the momentum going. “The leg press became my favorite friend during that time” he shares. Then, as Roy recovered, he was able to throw himself even deeper into some hard training, fully utilizing the online service provided Palau. “He was fantastic,” says Roy. “He would make my workouts for me, training blocks essentially, and he would always explain what the goal of the training block was.”
What Was Jamie Roy’s High-Volume Hypertrophy Workout Routine?
Roy says that depending on the filming schedule, he trains three to four times per week, consisting of around two upper, and two lower body sessions “And we really focused on performance,” he says of beginning the program. “So, I built a good basis, and we found that my body really responded to just basic, super heavy exercises,” shares the star, noting that exercises were paired as supersets.
For example, one superset could start with weighted pull-ups. “Six sets of those, with 3 to 6 reps, supersetted with dumbbell incline press, again for 3 to 6 reps,” shares the actor. Another example could be a single arm dumbbell row, supersetted with a barbell bench press for 5 or 6 sets of 6 to 8 reps. “So, quite high volume but low reps,” says Roy. When rep schemes were higher, say in the 8 to 12 rep range, intensity was always maintained by keeping just a small number of reps in reserve.
The star also took weekly progress photos to stay accountable to his coach. “You can see the difference, so I think it’s important to do this,” says the actor, who remained lean while adding muscle mass by tapering down his 3,000-calorie surplus to the 2,000s as shooting approached. Still, as a food lover, he also stayed in balance by following the 80/20 rule to remain flexible about any unplanned or “cheat” meals.
Being stronger for the screen has not only added some ruggedness to the Brian Fraser character as Season 2 of Outlander: Blood of my Blood draws near, but this added muscle is providing a functional advantage too, as Roy is required to be far more physical this time around, engaging in close combat and wielding a sword against his rivals. Fortunately, he was well prepped for anything that was thrown his way. “Coach Palau really emphasized the importance of really good technique, so full range of motion, and holding the stretch, which I really found beneficial,” says Roy.
Born in Greenock, this actor is understandably very proud to star in a show that has roots in 18th century Scotland, and he’s eager to continue the success of the original Outlander episodes with the Blood of my Blood prequel. “I think it’s because there’s something for everybody in there,” says Roy. “Between Outlander and Blood of My Blood, there’s love, romance, war, sex, passion, betrayal. Outlander had the privilege of spanning over eight seasons and now we’re lucky enough to have two, hopefully three. We’re still waiting for the green light on that!”
The highly anticipated season two of Outlander: Blood of My Blood premieres on Friday, Sept 18, 2026, via Starz.
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