Outlander's Sam Heughan Hints at Role in Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum

Outlander star Sam Heughan has strongly suggested that he may have a role in the upcoming film The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum .

Heughan spoke earlier this month at Scotland’s Wigtown Book Festival, during which the topic of J. R. R. Tolkien’s literary saga and subsequent film adaptations came up.

This wouldn’t be an unusual topic to raise with Heughan, as he’s named after Samwise Gamgee and his brother, Cirdan, is named after an Elf. (Their parents belonged to a London hippie community called Gandalf's Garden.)

When the moderator suggested the Lord of the Rings film franchise was “exhausted” at this point, Heughan cryptically replied, "No, it's not exhausted. I'm not giving anything away, but I may have been in New Zealand recently." You can watch the exchange for yourself below.

Sam Heughan on The Hunt for Gollum — The Mellon Heads - LOTR Podcast (@mellon_heads) October 28, 2026

The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum has been filming in New Zealand under the direction of Andy Serkis .

And as Winter Is Coming points out, “another eagle-eyed Outlander fan account, @samjamie_stillhere, noticed that a rare edition of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien went up for auction to benefit the ALS Network, which was signed by ‘people who have taken his world to the screen, and people who are taking it there next.’ The list of signatures includes a number of stars and producers from The Hunt for Gollum, all of whom have their roles for the film listed... as well as Sam Heughan.”

Maybe Heughan was just visiting the set of The Hunt for Gollum as a fan, or perhaps he has a heretofore undisclosed role in the film. If so, who do you think he plays? Let us know in the comments.

For more coverage on all things Middle-earth, read why Jamie Dornan isn’t trying to “outdo” Viggo Mortensen's Aragorn in The Hunt for Gollum and discover why The Rings of Power Season 3 is “turning the page on the show .”

Jim Vejvoda (he/him) is IGN's Assoc. Director of Entertainment Content.