Sam Heughan Says He Has ‘Big Shoes to Fill’ as Macbeth After Receiving Message from Sir Ian McKellen (Exclusive)

Sam Heughan is looking forward to joining the long list of talented actors who have played Macbeth.

While promoting his new cocktail book The Cocktail Diaries, Heughan, 45, spoke with PEOPLE about his next role: playing Macbeth in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s upcoming production of the famed Scottish play in Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare.

The production, which runs through Dec. 6, is taking place at The Other Place theater. The last Macbeth on that particular stage was led by award-winning actor Sir Ian McKellen in 1976.

On Sept. 1, McKellen, 86, surprised Heughan with a video message during the Outlander star’s appearance on the BBC’s The One Show.

“Remember that your best friend in the play is not Banquo, who you serve with on the battlefield, nor is your lovely wife who you go back to. No, your best friend is the audience. You confide in them, you tell them the truth, and that way, you put the fear of God in them,” McKellen advised Heughan, before adding, “Good luck.”

When asked how it felt to receive those words of encouragement from the stage and screen veteran, Heughan tells PEOPLE, “He’s a legend of theater and, yeah, I mean it’s incredible. What an amazing man.” He adds, “I look forward to meeting him.”

Heughan also shared, “He [McKellen] was the last person to play Macbeth in the theater that we’re playing it in in Stratford-upon-Avon … Himself and Judi Dench did this seminal production. So yeah, we’ve got some big shoes to fill.”

Still, the actor is feeling optimistic ahead of the opening. While the famed Shakespeare play about a man who is told by three witches that he will one day be the king of Scotland has long been surrounded by superstition — including a longstanding tradition of not saying “Macbeth” inside a theater — Heughan believes there’s nothing by good vibes attached to the upcoming production.

“There’s so much superstition tied up around it,” he says. “It is, you know, about witchcraft and karma and about fate and ambition.”

However, Heughan insists, “I feel like there’s good superstition and good witchcraft surrounding us on this production … I think it’s going to be quite the experience.”

Heughan is joined on stage by Lia Williams (The Crown) as Lady Macbeth, Nicholas Karimi (The Witcher) as Banquo, Eilidh Fisher (Dope Girls) as Nan, Michael Abubakar (Artemis Fowl) as Porter, Gilly Gilchrist (Department Q) as Duncan/Siward, Jamie Marie Leary as Lady Macduff, Scottish theater veteran Irene Macdougall as Mag, John Mclarnon (Blood of My Blood) as Ross, Conor McLeod (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) as Angus, Alec Newman (Hijack) as Mcduff, Christopher Patrick Nolan (Trigger Point) as the Priest, Alison Peebles (Department Q) as Iza and Calum Ross (Wednesday) as Malcolm.

The production is directed by Daniel Raggett.

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Heughan first announced that he would be playing Macbeth back in June in a post on Instagram featuring a photo of him alongside his Lady Macbeth, Williams. “At age 18, standing on the main stage of the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, playing “spear-carrier number 2” (essentially a glorified extra) in a production of Macbeth, I could only dream of one day playing the infamous title character,” he wrote in part.

He continued, “It feels full circle to be returning to the stage, after over a decade working primarily in television and film. Not only is Macbeth my favourite Shakespeare play: intense, immediate and unsettling, it also happens to be famously Scottish.”

The actor also noted that performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company has long been a professional goal. “The RSC has always been at the pinnacle of my ambition and I feel deeply honored and thankful to be working alongside some enormously talented and creative people,” he concluded his post.

Tickets for Macbeth are on sale now.