Sam Heughan has lined up another major television role as his time on Outlander reaches its conclusion.
The Scottish actor and producer is set to star opposite EGOT winner Viola Davis in Ascent, a character-focused thriller for Paramount+. Created by John Logan and produced by Paramount Television Studios, the series is scheduled to shoot in Los Angeles next year.
The project enters the high-pressure arena of global corporate crisis management and damage control, with Heughan playing Conal, one of the leading agents at Ascent Ventures.
Heughan Steps Into the Role of Conal
Conal is described as an adaptable and dangerously charismatic operator who relies on both social manipulation and a ruthless streak to carry out his assignments. He also takes genuine pleasure in successfully completing a mission, adding a potentially volatile edge to his work.
Davis will play Catriona, an elite corporate fixer whose formidable abilities have made her essential to clients with billions of dollars at stake. The story becomes personal when her estranged daughter is placed in danger, forcing Catriona to deploy the same uncompromising skills she has used throughout her professional life.
That setup puts Heughan and Davis at the center of a story combining family peril with the secretive, high-stakes work of protecting powerful corporate interests. Heughan’s casting also expands the show’s central professional world, with Conal positioned as a top figure inside Ascent Ventures.
The Creative Team Behind Ascent
Logan will serve as showrunner as well as an executive producer. The writer-producer is known for projects including Skyfall, Gladiator, Penny Dreadful and the recent Michael Jackson film Michael.
Michael Aguilar, whose work includes Penny Dreadful: City of Angels and Kidding, will also executive produce. Davis and Julius Tennon are executive producing through JuVee Productions.
The combination of Logan’s character-driven premise and the sharply defined roles for Heughan and Davis establishes Ascent as more than a conventional corporate drama. Its central conflict ties the work of crisis management directly to Catriona’s attempt to protect her daughter, while Conal’s appetite for completing dangerous assignments adds another layer to the series’ power dynamics.
Heughan’s Post-Outlander Slate
The casting comes as Heughan exits the eighth and final season of Starz’s historical fantasy hit Outlander, on which he has worked as both a star and producer. His performance on the series earned him nominations from BAFTA Scotland and the Critics’ Choice Awards.
His television credits also include The Couple Next Door, Men in Kilts: A Road Trip with Sam and Graham, River City, Island at War, The Wild West and Party Animals.
Heughan’s upcoming work is not limited to Ascent. He will also appear alongside J.K. Simmons and Anna Kendrick in Embassy, a political thriller for MGM+.
Heughan is represented by United Agents, UTA and Anonymous Content.
ShowBiz Take
Ascent gives Heughan a notably different arena following the final season of Outlander. Instead of a historical fantasy setting, the Paramount+ drama places him inside a contemporary world built around corporate emergencies, strategic deception and personal danger.
The role of Conal also appears designed to capitalize on contrast: he can shift his presentation to fit the circumstances, but beneath that adaptability is a ruthless agent who enjoys the pursuit and completion of a mission. Opposite Davis’s Catriona, whose professional methods become crucial when her daughter is threatened, that characterization creates clear potential for tension between personal stakes and corporate objectives.
Most importantly, the casting brings together two central performers with distinctly drawn characters while placing an intimate family crisis inside a much broader world of powerful clients and global damage control. That combination is the clearest indication yet of how Ascent intends to balance its thriller mechanics with character drama.
What Happens Next?
The next confirmed step for Ascent is production, with filming planned in Los Angeles next year. Heughan also has Embassy ahead, extending his television slate beyond the concluding chapter of Outlander.