Sam Claflin, known for his roles in Daisy Jones and the Six and The Hunger Games, has revealed his ongoing battle with body dysmorphia, admitting he has felt 'incredibly insecure' about his looks throughout his career.
The 39-year-old actor spoke on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast about being caught off guard early in his career by a request to film a shirtless scene. 'It wasn't in the script and I got told a week before,' he recalled. 'I was like, 's***, I haven't been working out, what am I going to do?' This is my first introduction to the world.'
Claflin, who also appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, described the pressure to conform to Hollywood’s physical ideals. 'There is this Hollywood assumption that it's the men with the six packs who sell the movie. So there was a pressure that that was what I needed to look like,' he said.
In a separate interview with The Telegraph last year, Claflin reflected on his struggles, noting that while it 'wasn't quite an eating disorder', it was 'definitely because of the industry I'm in'. He described body dysmorphia as an 'everyday struggle', adding: 'I am massively impacted by what other people think.'
The NHS defines body dysmorphia as a mental health condition involving excessive worry about perceived flaws in appearance. Support is available through Beat, the eating disorder charity, on 0808 801 0677.
