Sam Heughan is a True Winner

This morning, Outlander fans waited with bated breath, waited for the Golden Globe nomination announcements with fingers crossed. Surely, the Golden Globes would nominate Outlander after the Emmy's snubbed us. And sure enough, we were nominated. We were nominated for Best Drama Series next to heavy-hitter Game of Thrones. Caitriona Balfe received a nomination for Best Actress in a Drama and Tobias Menzies received a Best Supporting Actor nomination in a Drama. For the first time, on a stage that didn't rely on fan voting, we were legitimized. But almost immediately, there was drama within our fandom over the fact that Sam was not nominated for Best Actor. There was anger, a lot of it, over the fact that Sam did not receive a nomination, more anger than I remember when the Emmy's snubbed the entire show.

The problem with award shows like this, is that usually there is a lot of back door politics going on, not to mention, a lot of the basis for a nomination depends on screen time for the actors within the show. As it stands, Jamie's character was a side character, at best, for the first eight episodes and didn't become a full main character until after the wedding. Blame Ron Moore, blame the writers, that's just the way it panned out. So no, Sam did not receive a nomination. But to me, that doesn't matter, because Sam is the true winner.

Since becoming Jamie, Sam has dealt with a lot. Harrassment on social media, for his behavior, for his significant other, for not answering questions on his personal life, for dealing with crazy obsessed fans who get jealous of any woman in his life who might be his girlfriend; for being to thin or too buff; for having a beard and not having one at all; for anti-shippers who scream and throw fits on twitter and tumblr just so they can try and rub it in shippers faces that he isn't with Cait (I'm not a shipper myself but shipping them doesn't bother me in the slightest). He's handled it all fairly well, though it must be quite an adjustment to go from a small actor to catching the biggest break of his career and becoming the human embodiment of one of the greatest literary men in modern literature. He has handled it all graciously and humbly and to those who've met him in real life, they say he is nothing but a true gentleman.

So even though Sam did not get a nomination, to me he is still a winner. He has handled transition from unknown actor to a top tier actor gracefully. He involves himself in charity work, he has a life that is actually quite normal outside of his role as Jamie and his acting is superb. When the Emmy's snubbed us, everyone was angry. Emmy's and Golden Globe nominations legitimize television actors to most and there are plenty of actors in smaller TV shows that never get the recognition they deserve. Much like everyone knows that Leonardo DiCaprio deserves an Oscar more than plenty of men who've won over him. We know that despite never winning one, that he is a fantastic actor. So even though Sam did not get a nomination, I know that he is still a winner. I know that he is still a wonderful actor. That even though he did not receive a nomination, he is still one of the best actors on television right now and he will only grow as an actor as the show progresses. As I said when we were snubbed by the Emmys, we do not need these nominations to legitimize these actors, because they are already legitimized in our eyes. I'm excited that Cait, Tobias and the show nabbed nominations and am I disappointed in Sam being snubbed, a little yes, but at the same time, I know that he is an actor that is utterly wonderful, and just because he doesn't win a nomination, doesn't make him any less wonderful in my eyes. So congrats to Cait, Tobias and Outlander, and especially to Sam, who will no doubt treat his snub with quiet dignity and grace. To the fandom, Sam Heughan, you are indeed a true winner, regardless of the backdoor politics in Hollywood.

Slàinte mhath!