SAM
CLAFLIN
If Prince Charming existed beyond the pages of our favourite fairytales, he’d look and sound a lot like this newly minted leading man
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ensitive New-Age Guy (or SNAG) is an ’80s term that doesn’t get thrown around much these days, but its resurrection is necessary for the purpose of this story, because it’s really the only way we can describe actor Sam Claflin. “I love to laugh and I love to cry. I love to have that release… A laugh through your tears is, for me, one of the greatest things in the world,” he admits. It’s this emotionally tapped-in spirit that drew him to his latest role, playing quadriplegic Will Traynor in Me Before You, the film adaptation of Jojo Moyes’ bestselling 2012 novel of the same name. A collision with a motorcycle leaves wealthy and successful Will permanently disabled and holed up at his parents’ country
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WORDS: LAURA COLLINS. PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES
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manor, living out his days as a recluse. Two years after the accident, local woman Louisa (played by Game Of Thrones’ own Mother Of Dragons, Emilia Clarke) scores a job as his carer. Charming and optimistic Lou struggles to break through Will’s frosty exterior – though, of course, she eventually does. It’s not until later that she discovers Will has made plans to end his life through Dignitas, an assisted suicide organisation in Zurich, Switzerland. Claflin’s character is everything his scene-stealing role as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games series wasn’t. “It’s not a romantic comedy, it’s not a romantic drama. It’s kind of got both, so I guess you could say it’s a romantic dramedy?” he laughs. Having spent years playing the tough, charismatic male tribute from District 4 opposite Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson, the 29-year-old was ready for a change. “Actually, [this role] was the most physically demanding thing I’ve ever done, because it meant staying in one position for hours and hours throughout the day,” he says. “The director [Thea Sharrock] and I decided it was important for me to lose quite a bit of weight; to be thinner, and look weaker and more drawn out.” And, of course, Claflin let his emotional range guide him. “In one scene, between takes, I started uncontrollably sobbing, purely out of the connection I had with the moment, and what the characters were going through. The whole project was a real eye-opener for me.” He’s now on to filming My Cousin Rachel, a mystery-romance based on the Daphne du Maurier novel, but the role he’s most excited about is fatherhood. His wife, actress Laura Haddock, gave birth to their first child last December and Claflin takes dad duties very seriously. “Any time
“I LOVE TO LAUGH AND I LOVE TO CRY. I LOVE TO HAVE THAT RELEASE… BETWEEN TAKES, I STARTED UNCONTROLLABLY SOBBING, PURELY OUT OF THE CONNECTION I HAD WITH THE MOMENT”
I hear a noise, I’m there on guard. [Fatherhood] has definitely given me a new insight, widened my horizons and made me not think so selfishly. You know, it’s not about me anymore. It’s about me and my family.” Determined to stay grounded no matter how brightly his star burns, he’s calling London home for the foreseeable future. “You can have a normal life and not have to worry about people hounding you,” he says. “At the same time, my reason for living in London, other than the fact that it’s my favourite city in the world, is that my friends and family are all here. Everyone has a connection to it.” Like most good English boys, Claflin originally had his sights set on playing professional soccer until a broken ankle got in the way. It was his parents, together with one of his high-school teachers, who encouraged the teen to try acting. It was a perfect fit. “When I started auditioning at drama school, I was fortunate enough to land an agent quite quickly, in my third year, which is not necessarily normal. But I was thrown into the lion’s den, because when I was auditioning for big films, the feedback was constantly, ‘We’re looking for a name.’” Six months of unsuccessful auditions left him feeling like he needed a Plan B, stat. But luck stepped in, as it has a habit of doing, and he soon landed a role in historical miniseries The Pillars Of The Earth. A glowing recommendation from Mr and Mrs Claflin head home to Chiswick, one of his Pillars co-stars, who had been a suburb just west of central London. cast in the fourth instalment of the Pirates It’s renowned for its tasteful period Of The Caribbean series, helped Claflin win architecture, hip restaurants and the a role in the film as captive missionary annual Chiswick dog show – but the real Philip Swift. Post-POTC, it was blockbusters drawcard is its other notable residents… Snow White And The Huntsman and The Hunger Games, supernatural horror The COLIN FIRTH He was voted most Quiet Ones, over-privileged Oxford kids desirable celebrity neighbour in the UK. drama The Riot Club and tear-jerker Love, CARA DELEVINGNE Word is she only Rosie. And that’s basically his entire uses her house to store clothes. big-screen résumé, right up until the DAVID TENNANT The former Doctor Who script for Me Before You landed in his lap. is a regular fixture in the local paper. And so, just like that, after a handful of SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR It’s where the singer expertly played cinematic moves, Claflin and her muso husband raise their four boys. has become a leading man. He makes it RICK STEIN When a TV chef moves in, seem incredibly easy, but we’ll put that you know the food scene is good. down to his insouciant optimism (and for what it’s worth, all that on-screen charisma is the real deal). q Me Before You is in cinemas June 23 ELLE.COM.AU @ELLEAUS
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