Sam Heughan cast in Paramount+ thriller Ascent with Viola Davis

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Outlander star Sam Heughan has been cast in the Sam Heughan Ascent Paramount+ thriller, joining Academy Award winner Viola Davis in a brand-new character-driven series. Digital Spy reports that Heughan will play Conal, described as ‘one of Ascent Ventures’ top agents’ and a ‘lethally charming and natural chameleon’ who ‘uses social cunning and ruthlessness to get the job done, and he always gets a thrill out of completing a mission’.

Davis, who is also an executive producer on the series, takes the lead role of Catriona Vail, ‘an elite corporate fixer who must weaponise the ruthless skills that have made her indispensable to billion-dollar clients when her estranged daughter is in danger’.

What is Ascent about?

Ascent is set in the world of global corporate crisis and damage control. The show is created by John Logan, who is a Tony Award winner and three-time Oscar nominee, according to TheFutonCritic, and is best known for his screenwriting work on Skyfall, Gladiator and Penny Dreadful. Logan will serve as showrunner and executive producer.

He is joined in the producing team by Michael Aguilar, whose previous credits include Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Kidding and The Departed, according to TheFutonCritic. Davis and Julius Tennon executive produce via their JuVee Productions.

The series is produced by Paramount Television Studios and will stream exclusively on Paramount+. No release date has been set, though Variety reports that production is slated to kick off in Los Angeles in 2027.

What the cast and producers are saying

Davis has spoken warmly about the project. ‘I am overwhelmingly excited about this journey with the great John Logan. We won the lottery with this one!’ she said in a statement. She added: ‘Work in which both story and character are bold, awe inspiring and deeply unique is why I became an artist. We at JuVee are deeply grateful to John Logan, Michael Aquilar and Paramount. We are ready to create magic.’

Matt Thunell, president of Paramount Television Studios, said the studio ‘celebrate bold and original ideas’ and that it was ‘honoured to support the vision of [the] exceptional’ creative team. Jane Wiseman, Head of Originals for Paramount+, described Ascent as ‘high-stakes television at its best’, and said of Davis: ‘Viola doesn’t just take on roles; she transforms them. Catriona is an incredibly complex character and she is exactly the generational talent to bring her to life.’

Heughan is best known for playing Jamie Fraser across all eight seasons of Outlander, a role that earned him BAFTA Scotland and Critics’ Choice nominations, according to Variety. Production on Ascent is slated to begin in Los Angeles in 2027, with an airdate on Paramount+ still to be announced.

Georgia Parkes started in women's magazine editorial and moved sideways into freelance lifestyle writing when the industry contracted. She spent seven years across two national titles, covering everything from celebrity interviews to consumer trends, and did a year on the branded content side before deciding she preferred having opinions to suppressing them. She writes about wellness, fitness, food, relationships, and the small absurdities of modern living that somehow require a 1,200-word feature. She is good at spotting a trend before it peaks and calling it out three months after everyone else has moved on. Georgia lives in South London. She has tested more wellness products than she has had hot dinners, and considers both claims equally dubious.