Outlander star Sam Heughan says actors were “perhaps forced” into filming nude scenes on the programme.

Heughan, who played Jamie Fraser in the long-running US series, said it was “always a negotiation” with the production team and “it wasn’t particularly a nice one”.

The 46-year-old’s comments came in conversation on stage with fellow Scottish actor Alan Cumming at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre, discussing the early years of the hit historical drama.

Heughan said the introduction of intimacy co-ordinators in later series was a “great protection” for actors.

He told Cumming that guidelines and safeguards for actors doing nude scenes had changed over the last 12 years.

He said it was a stark contrast to his experience when the show began in 2014.

Heughan said the series, which ended this year after eight seasons, did not initially have intimacy co-ordinators and “we were very much left to our own devices”.

He added: “In fact, dare I say, even perhaps forced to do nudity when we were not particularly happy about it.”

Cumming told the audience in the Highlands that in previous years “some lines have been crossed” by actors during intimate scenes.

Speaking about his own experience as a younger actor, Heughan said performers often asked to remove their clothing.

He said: “I remember starting out as an actor and sort of going for auditions, and they’d be like, ‘Right, OK, take your top off now’, and it was awful, or you’re kissing someone you’ve just met in an audition.

“I promise you, it’s not like that anymore. It was just a different time.”

Heughan also spoke about a scene in Outlander in which his character is raped, which he said was the most challenging scene in his career.

He told the audience: “It was challenging and I remember it was many days filming because it was a really long scene.

“He was captured and tortured and then raped.

“It was horrific to do but I suppose these are the stories that also, if treated well and done with respect, can be also revealing or helpful in some ways.

“It’s hard. I think the industry’s totally changed.”

An Outlander prequel series, Blood Of My Blood, began in August last year and has been renewed for a second season due to air in September.

Sony Pictures Television, which produces Outlander, has been approached for comment.