Image courtesy Teen Vogue
Sam Claflin sat down with Teen Vogue during a break from shooting The Hunger Games: Catching Fire to talk about landing the coveted role of Finnick Odair, his intense four months of training, working with Jennifer Lawrence, and his bromance with Josh Hutcherson.
Here's a bonus video from Teen Vogue's exclusive interview:
On scoring the role of Finnick:
Yeah, so they decided to go with me as opposed to any of the other young, hot, good-looking actors out there. [Laughs] I auditioned like everyone else. I didn't know what it was for before I went in, and I hadn't read the books. Looking at the page with a character named Finnick, I was like, Who the heck is Finnick? And then I saw Katniss on the page, and I was like, Ahh, OK, maybe this is The Hunger Games. Then they decided they would dye my hair blonde, and presto, there's your Finnick Odair!
On his intense training for the movie (and carrying Mags!):
From the moment I set foot in Atlanta, they had me at the gym, working out twice a day. And then stunt training, it's nonstop. To be fair, I spend a lot of the film carrying an old lady on my back, as Finnick carries Mags for the majority of the arena scenes. I feel like every day of filming is a workout, running around Hawaii with little old Lynn Cohen on my back. As for my diet, I think I've eaten more chickens than there are in the world. [Laughs] I would eat chicken and asparagus for lunch and dinner, and for breakfast I'd have an omelet and oatmeal. And I had that every day for four months. I've talked to my friends and said, "Oh my God, I'm so depressed, I just want a burger." And they're like, "You don't know how lucky you are to be doing what you are doing."
On working with Jennifer and Josh:
Jen is the most talented actress I have had the pleasure of working with. She is truly amazing. She has everything already and doesn't have to try. But the fact that she is so professional and hardworking and willing to get her hands dirty makes her even more amazing. With Josh, we hit it off from the first conversation we ever had, which was about soccer. He asked me if I like soccer, and I was like, Yes, I'm English! It kind of got blown out of proportion, spending time off set playing soccer. It's a definite bromance. I think I'm quoting him on that, or Jen.
On what fans can expect from his portrayal of Finnick:
All I can say is I try very hard and hopefully I won't disappoint people. He's a very charming physical being, and hopefully he will be exactly what people read in the book and I won't be doing an injustice. I purposefully did not want to watch anything I've done so far; I actually don't like looking at my face, so I don't like watching myself on the screen. It's an insecurity thing I have. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, I think, and I strive for perfection. The reason I'm an actor is because I'll never be able to be perfect. I hope people enjoy my interpretation. Hopefully we'll make a bigger and better one this time around.
Read the entire article HERE