Tune into this week’s all-new episode of The Couple Next Door on Starz and you might find yourself mistaking Outlander star Sam Heughan for another iconic romantic stud. The Couple Next Door Episode 2 “Tangled Temptations” opens with an illicit fantasy wherein frustrated suburban wife Evie (Eleanor Tomlinson) and hunky neighbor Danny (Sam Heughan) rush across their cozy cul de sac and into each other’s arms — all in the rain, Ryan Gosling/Rachel McAdams style.
“We were trying to recreate that sort of moment, that Notebook look,” Sam Heughan confirmed to DECIDER during a recent interview. A feat that the Scottish heartthrob confessed was “a tough one” even for him to pull off.
The Couple Next Door is a new psychological thriller set in a sleepy suburban subdivision of Leeds. Evie and journalist hubby Pete (Alfred Enoch) have moved to this idyllic community in the hopes of raising their own child there. After Evie suffers a miscarriage, she finds herself leaning more and more on new friends and hot neighbors Danny and wife Becka (Jessica De Gouw) for support. Evie is dazzled by their beauty, confidence, and openness. However, she’s particularly taken by Danny.
Last week’s episode of The Couple Next Door ended with Evie and Danny exchanging longing looks across the street. What’s supposed to be just another routine trash drop on a rainy English night becomes electricly charged with their obvious sexual interest in one another. The Couple Next Door Episode 2 “Tangled Temptations” takes that attraction a step further, showing us Evie imagining the pair embracing in the rain.
Evie immediately wakes up, robbing us of the scintillating heat that would come next. However, according to Couple Next Door star Sam Heughan, filming this steamy moment was far from hot.
“It’s 4 AM, you’re getting drenched by lots of cold water and you have to run barefoot towards each other quite fast,” Heughan recalled, “and then pick her up.”
“You know, it’s actually really difficult not to bump into each other, to make it look sexy.”
Heughan credited much of the success of the scene to his Couple Next Door co-star, Eleanor Tomlinson.
“Eleanor is such an amazing actress,” he said. “We got on so well and she makes it so easy.”
That said, Heughan admitted that Tomlinson made it so easy, he was forced to up his game on The Couple Next Door set.
“She didn’t complain once! So I had to keep my mouth shut and not complain about how cold it was,” he said with a smile.”But, yeah, loved working with her.”
Will Evie get her wish to get even closer to Danny? You’ll have to keep watching The Couple Next Door on Starz to find out.
