Sam Claflin

Sam Claflin is an English actor. Born Samuel George Claflin on June 27, 1986, in Ipswich, Suffolk, he grew up in Norwich, Norfolk. As a child he was interested in football and was connected with Norwich City's youth setup, but an ankle injury and encouragement from teachers and family redirected him toward acting. He studied performing arts at Norwich City College and graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 2009.

Claflin began his professional screen career in 2010 with roles in the television miniseries The Pillars of the Earth and Any Human Heart. His early work quickly moved between period drama, television film and studio features. In 2011 he portrayed footballer Duncan Edwards in the BBC drama United, about the Munich air disaster, and made his first major film appearance as Philip Swift in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. He followed with roles in Snow White and the Huntsman, White Heat and The Quiet Ones, establishing himself in both British television and international film.

His global breakthrough came when he was cast as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games film series. He first played the character in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and reprised the role in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. The role brought him a large international audience and placed him in one of the most visible young-adult film franchises of the 2010s.

Claflin subsequently became associated with romantic drama as well as adventure and thriller roles. He starred opposite Lily Collins in Love, Rosie and opposite Emilia Clarke in Me Before You, both adaptations of popular novels. He also appeared in The Riot Club, reprised his role as William in The Huntsman: Winter's War and took on more intense dramatic material in Journey's End and Adrift. In 2018 he appeared in Jennifer Kent's The Nightingale, a period thriller that further broadened his screen profile.