‘Hunger Games’ Star Sam Claflin Says Shirtless Scenes Led to Body Dysmorphia: ‘There’s This Hollywood Assumption That Men With Six Packs Sell Movies’

Sam Claflin revealed on Fearne Cotton’s “Happy Place” podcast (via The Independent) that his body dysmorphia was exacerbated by his Hollywood acting roles, which often required him to appear shirtless on screen. Claflin is best known for playing Finnick Odair in “The Hunger Games” franchise, starting with “Catching Fire.” He made his film debut in “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.”

“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,” Claflin said. “I was like, ‘Shit, I haven’t been working out, what am I going to do?’ This is my first introduction to the world.”

Claflin said earlier in the chat, “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 was like,] ‘I hated it.’ It’s my face I don’t like [it]’. When I was cast in ‘Pirates,’ I thought: ‘What on earth am I doing here?'”

The actor previously told The Telegraph in 2025 that “there’s this Hollywood assumption that it’s the men with the six packs who sell the movie. So there was a pressure that was what I needed to look like. As a result, I developed a form of body dysmorphia. 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.”

Expanding on the topic with Cotton on the recent podcast episode, Claflin said, “I’ve been massively affected [by body dysmorphia]. I’d say most guys are, but I would say mine got quite bad… It’s a real struggle. It’s like an everyday struggle. I am massively impacted by what other people think and if they think I look good or am a nice person.”

After breaking out in Hollywood with big studio franchise fare, which also included “Snow White and the Huntsman,” Claflin starred in the romance “Me Before You” and several indies, including “Their Finest” and “Adrift.” His performance as Billy Dunne in the 2023 Hulu series “Daisy Jones & the Six” earned him a Golden Globe nomination.

Watch Claflin’s full interview on the “Happy Place” podcast in the video below.