Sam Claflin shares his discomfort with topless scenes amid body dysmorphia struggle
Actor Sam Claflin had an almighty introduction to the world of film with hits like The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, but he has now revealed that he “hated” filming certain scenes.
Newly speaking on the Happy Place podcast, the 39-year-old actor opened up about his experience of body dysmorphia. He shared, “A lot of the roles I played earlier on in my career… I had a topless scene in one of my first movies, but it wasn’t in the script and I got told a week before they were going to [take] my top off.”
He went on, “I was like, ‘shit, I haven’t been working out, what am I going to do?’ This is my first introduction to the world.”
Earnestly, Claflin added, “I’m incredibly insecure. I just went to a screening of a film I was in, and everyone immediately afterwards [asked], ‘How was it?’ And ‘I hated it.’ It’s my face, I don’t like [it].”
This is in keeping with comments he has made previously; when speaking to The Telegraph last year deemed this insecurity to be “body dysmorphia”, brought on by his experience in 2011’s Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
He elaborated at that time, “It wasn’t quite an eating disorder, and I’m not blaming anyone but myself, but it was definitely because of the industry I’m in.”
Claflin has plenty of upcoming projects slated for a 2026 release. He will star in three television series: Vanished, a four-part mystery thriller; Lazarus, a Prime Video series created by Harlan Coben and Danny Brocklehurst; and The Count of Monte Cristo, in which he will star as Edmond Dantes.
He is also set to star in the 2027 action-thriller F.A.S.T, written by Taylor Sheridan and directed by Ben Richardson. The film is currently in production, while Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol, in which he will also be included, is currently in pre-production stages.
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