Outlander actor Graham McTavish has admitted he got a touch of the green-eyed monster after his co-star Sam Heughan announced he was starring in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s upcoming production of Macbeth.

In an exclusive interview with Reach Screen Time, the 65-year-old star, known for his turn as Dougal MacKenzie in the Starz historical fantasy epic, said: “I’d love to do theatre. I’ve got to be honest, I was a little jealous when I found out Sam was doing Macbeth because I’d love to do some theatre.

“I’m trying. There’s a possibility I might be able to do something in the autumn of 2026 because it’s been 18 years since I’ve been in theatre.”

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McTavish was last on stage back in 2006’s Rainbow Kiss at the Royal Court Theatre in London, which saw him bursting unexpectedly onto the set wielding a real fireman’s axe à la Jack Torrance from The Shining.

“Honestly, it was fantastic and the best entrance I’ve ever had, and I don’t think I’ll ever have another one as good,” he said, adding how audience members were “absolutely terrified”.

He admitted his moneylender character was quite possibly the “worst villain” he’d ever played with “no redeeming features” and was “just a brute”.

Among those in the audience of Rainbow Kiss was his future The Hobbit co-star Sir Ian McKellen, who remarked to him: “Where did they find you? Oh my goodness.”

Four years later, McTavish and McKellen were reunited on The Hobbit, and the Gandalf the Grey star remembered him thanks to his unforgettable onstage performance.

McTavish said: “It was such fun and I would never have thought that 18 years later I wouldn’t have been on stage. Never.

“So, it’s a little bit of a sadness for me because I did theatre every year from when I first became an actor. That’s what I did all the time.”

The star went on to say he would “of course” be watching his friend and co-star Heughan taking on the Scottish play and joked he would “heckle” him.

Both Heughan and McTavish are good friends with the pair fronting Starz’s travelogue Men In Kilts together and venturing from Scotland to New Zealand with hilarious consequences

Although they “message all the time”, McTavish said it’d been a while since they’d caught up in person. Luckily, it won’t be long until they’ll be back together again at the forthcoming Outlander: Blood of My Blood premiere in LA.

The Witcher and Lucifer star is now taking on a very different role in his new film Dirty Boy, which premieres at the Raindance Film Festival in the UK this weekend.

The dark tale follows a reclusive, schizophrenic young man raised by a cult, who is trying to clear his name after the sect tries to frame him for a series of murders.

McTavish stars as the calm yet sinister cult leader Walter Wentworth in the independent movie.

Even though Walter doesn’t quite reach the levels of McTavish’s Rainbow Kiss character, the actor said the cult leader was one of the most evil characters he’s played and drew parallels to Jeffrey Epstein.

Dirty Boy also stars Susie Porter, Stan Steinbichler and Honor Gillies, among others.

“I immediately agreed. I loved the script,” McTavish said of signing onto the project after writer-director Doug Rao approached him.

He explained: “People will stick it into a horror genre, it’s much more than that. It’s really a psychological thriller but it’s very disconcerting, very disturbing and you just keep feeling like something really bad is about to happen.”

Dirty Boy has its UK Premiere at Raindance Film Festival on June 22 and is in UK Cinemas from 22nd August

Outlander season 7 is available to buy now on Digital and is streaming on MGM+ via Prime Video now