Meet the Hunk from 'The Spy Who Dumped Me' (And It's Not Justin Theroux)

In Susanna Fogel's "The Spy Who Dumped Me," Audrey (Mila Kunis) and Morgan (Kate McKinnon) are BFFs who are tossed into a madcap world of international intrigue and life-threatening mayhem. They're tapped to save the world armed with hilarious one-liners and some clever know-how.

The movie blends Bond with the Bond-spoof and turns it all on its ear by giving us two female leads who change the action-adventure hero conversation by subverting damsel-in-distress expectations. Most of the characters in distress in this film have penises.

One of those penises belongs to sexy Sam Heughan, playing a dapper, charismatic and mysterious British agent. Is he full-on dunderclod or is that just a clever and sinister cover?

Fans of the hugely successful Starz series "Outlander" may not recognize the hunky Heughan, who began his career on the London stage and gradually built his film and TV resume before the "Outlander" breakout. This included co-starring in "A Very British Sex Scandal," in 2007, a docu-drama about the Peter Wildeblood scandal of the 1950s that eventually led to the decriminalization of homosexuality in Britain.

In the comic caper "Spy," Heughan appears to be having a ball playing third fiddle to the power duo of Kunis and McKinnon. In many ways, his Sebastian is the sex object in the film. But Heughan manages to give his character just enough enigmatic shading to make him more than just a pretty man-face.

EDGE spoke with Heughan while on a promo tour for the film. He was very excited to be in NYC.

Playing the straight guy

EDGE: Have you had much experience with comedy?

Sam Heughan: Absolutely not. No. And I was pretty apprehensive about going opposite Kate and Mila, who are just at the top of their game and really queens of comedy - especially Kate, who's hysterical. Fortunately, my character is kind of a straight guy. It was a lot of fun to see that character slowly warm up to these two crazy people.

EDGE: It was nice to see a male take the backseat to two female leads.

Sam Heughan: Absolutely. They end up saving the James Bond-type characters. The women really take over in this movie. I think that comes down to great writing by Susanna and David (Iserson) and it was helmed by Susanna. She was fantastic, really warm and generous with her time and she kept the atmosphere on set really lighthearted.

EDGE: There were so many great locations.

Sam Heughan: Oh my God, we were so lucky. We were shooting in Budapest, which is a beautiful city. We were there for a couple of months and then we went to Vienna and Amsterdam, which is one of my favorite cities. Very lucky we got to shoot around Europe. It was a super warm summer as well. It was perfect.

High action with intelligent comedy

EDGE: Your fight scenes were impressive. Did you work extensively with a fight choreographer?

Sam Heughan: Yeah, we were lucky. Gary Powell has done all the James Bond movies, the Bourne movies, Indiana Jones... we got to do a lot of second unit work with him and his team... This movie is unique. You really don't often have that combination of high action with intelligent comedy. It's a great mix... I really enjoyed the stunts.

Obviously, I wanted to do as many as I could, but some of the hardcore stuff was insane so I had a really good stunt double.

EDGE: I'm guessing it's quite different preparing for something like "Outlander" and prepping for this.

Sam Heughan: Yeah, I think it is completely different. I come from a TV world where everything is scripted. We move very fast. We have a very tight schedule. On "Spy" I was thrown into the deep end. We had some rehearsals with Susanna and the girls. (It) was just incredible to see them work. Kate would be literally ad libbing every line. I remember my first day on set I had a big scene with Mila at a Viennese Caf�... and, honestly, every take she was saying something different and doing something different. It took me a few seconds to really get my head around that. There seemed to be a real freedom in the way they shoot this kind of comedy... and they had a great team of writers. Susanna and David would bring in other writer friends and give them alt lines just to see what worked. It was great fun and just a very different way of working.

EDGE: How did the script first come to you?

Sam Heughan: I was in South Africa shooting "Outlander." It was such a random scenario. I had to do my audition via my iPad, which was propped up on toilet rolls and a chair in my living room. And it was weird to audition to the screen. (laughs) They sent the script and I remember laughing out loud... Of course to work with Mila and Kate-who else gets to do that? I've been a huge fan of both of them.

EDGE: You've played a gay character in "A Very British Scandal," which told an important story. What was working on that TV short like?

Sam Heughan: Wow, yeah, that was a while ago now. It was a really fascinating period in time and a really big court case where this well-respected reporter was taken to trial. I played McNally, this Scottish sailor. It's really interesting to play these true-life scenarios and it was a really important part of history... I did a play in the West End similarly about a moment in John Gielgud's life where he was arrested for cottaging [having anonymous sex] in the U.K. It was all about that period of time.

EDGE: Looking back, "Outlander" certainly changed your career. Now that you have some perspective, what was all of that like for you?

Sam Heughan: It's been five years... It has completely and utterly changed my life. I'm extremely fortunate. What it's brought to me-It's given me these opportunities and I'm running with it and enjoying every moment. I think at the time if someone had told me this is what it's going to be like I wouldn't have believed them. But the show is continuing to be a success. We've got two more seasons that we're going back to shoot. I think I'm going to be an old man by the time we finish. (laughs) It's definitely got legs. But I'm so lucky. It's a great family. And "Spy" was a great opportunity to go and work in a different environment with a different family.

EDGE: Do you see yourself bouncing back to theatre at all?

Sam Heughan: I would really love to. It's about timing, which is difficult with my schedule at the moment, but I would love to take some time out and go do some theatre. I would love to do something in New York! I would love to do something in the park here in New York. My favorite thing is to go and see Shakespeare in the Park.

EDGE: So if you had one role you could play here on the New York stage, what would it be?

Sam Heughan: If we're talking Shakespeare, it has to be Macbeth. That would be an incredible part. He's at the top of his game. He's a great warrior. He's the golden boy. He's at the Oscars. And his wife is equally his counterpart, and they're in this very corrupt situation that comes tumbling down around them. But I think if it was set in modern times it could be interesting.

"The Spy Who Dumped Me" opens everywhere on August 3rd.

Watch the trailer to "The Spy Who Dumped Me.":