Samuel George Claflin is an English actor, born 27 June 1986 in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. His father earned a living as an accountant and financial manager, while his mother worked as a classroom assistant. He is the 3rd eldest of 4 boys, his older brothers Daniel and Benjamin are not involved in drama but his younger brother Joseph commenced at the same drama school as Sam in 2009, also doing a 3 year acting degree. As a child he was a football mad often going to see his local team Norwich City and he was a talented footballer, playing for Norwich schools at city level and Norfolk county level. However, he suffered 2 broken ankles and at 16 gave up thinking about a footballing career.

It was then that Sam was encouraged by his parents to pursue another of his passions. Acting. He then decided to take up performing arts, and a teacher from Costessey High School was impressed with his performance in a school play, and encouraged him to take up drama. He joined the local youth group at Norwich’s Theatre Royal and went on to gain entry to The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, a prestigious drama school that boasted alumni such as John Lithgow and Stephen Moyer, in 2006. The future star graduated with honors in 2009.

While attending the Academy, Claflin often acted in theatrical productions. Here he received diverse acting training, as he got to play erything from the shepherd Silvius in William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” to the womanizer Dorimant in George Etherege’s 1676 play “Man of Mode.” Claflin reportedly considered joining a touring production of Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” (1600s) but then had a change of heart after landing his first major onscreen role.

In 2010, Clafin made his debut screen performances in two award-winning series and a TV film. First up was “The Pillars of the Earth“, where he starred alongside Ian McShane, Rufus Sewell, Matthew Macfadyen, Eddie Redmayne, Hayley Atwell and Donald Sutherland. Sam played Richard of Kingsbridge, a skilled knight who, as a young man, witnessed his sister’s rape by a sadistic lord. In February that same year, Sam traveled to Cape Town to film the TV film “The Lost Future” for the American SyFy Channel – starring alongside Sean Bean, Annabelle Wallis and Corey Sevier. A week after wrapping, he traveled back to London to begin shooting TV Drama “Any Human Heart” for Channel 4.

His film debut came in April 2011, with “United“. He portrayed the role of footballer Duncan Edwards in the BBC TV drama United, which was centred around the events of the 1958 Munich air disaster, in which Edwards was fatally injured. Largely filmed around the North East of England, the film was first broadcast on 24 April 2011 on BBC Two and BBC HD, but is being sold internationally as a theatrical picture by Content Media Corp. The series gained a 14.3% rating in its time slot and was generally well received by television critics.

Sam then came to the attention of filmgoers across the world when he landed his big break as Philip Swift in the fourth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean film series titled “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” in 2010. In the film, he starred alongside well-known names as Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz and Geoffrey Rush. An impressive feat for a newcomer, Sam managed to sweep millions of audiences off their feet by playing a stalwart missionary; even stealing a few scenes from Depp’s hilarious Captain Jack Sparrow.

In 2011, it became obvious that Sam was soon to be one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors, when he got cast as the supporting role of William, Snow White’s childhood friend, in the 2012 film “Snow White and the Huntsman“. Here, he got to share the screen with some of the worlds most famous actors and actresses, including Kristen Stewart, Charlize Theron and Chris Hemsworth. The film was a big success, and gained Sam the Teen Choice Award for male “Choice Movie Breakout”.

In 2012, Sam went back to the Television screens, with a role in “White Heat“. The BBC TV series, written by Paula Milne, was first broadcast in March 2012. The final episode aired 12 April 2012. The series followed seven students who first meet in a London Tufnell Park flat-share in 1965 and consisted of 6 one-hour episodes, set in 1965, 1967, 1973, 1979, 1982 and 1990. When asked about his character, Sam said the following: “I’m the bad one! I lead people astray. Hopefully I’ll bring across an element to him which the audience should be able to sympathise and empathise with. He quite heavily gets into drugs, he’s very passionate about politics. He’s from a very privileged upbringing – his father’s very wealthy and his grandfather’s a viscount, so he’s from lots of money. I think he does everything in his power to rebel against that really. He’s the landlord of the house which they all move into. His daddy bought the house, it’s that kind of [thing]. But he hates the thought of following in his father’s footsteps.”

Mid-2012, casting for the second installment of The Hunger Games film series, based on the popular books by author Suzanne Collins, “Catching Fire” began. Speculations about who would be cast as the district 4 tribute, Finnick Odair, went on for weeks, covering basically every single hot male actor alive. It eventually became clear that Sam was one of the most likely to be cast, before it was officially announced August 22nd, 2012. He would be joining Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amanda Plummer, Jena Malone, among others, in the adaptation of the second installment of the best-selling trilogy.

“Catching Fire”, directed by Francis Lawrence began its shooting on October 2012. While filming, the director was asked about Sam’s performance to which he replied “Finnick’s an interesting character. At first he feels like a bit of a flirt and there’s a little bit of sexual tension, but really you kind of fall in love with the guy and you see that there’s a real deep emotional side to him. It’s one of the reasons I really hired him in the first place was that it’s where his character goes in the next couple of stories and I just think he did a fantastic job.” The movie was released the upcoming year, in November 2013. Sam’s portrayal of the loved character didn’t go unnoticed and he received positive reviews. Hail to Finnick!

However, Finnick O’Dair was not the only role Sam portrayed in 2012. “The Quiet Ones”, in which Sam stars alongside Jared Harris, Olivia Cooke and Erin Richards, began its filming on July 2012. The british supernatural horror film, loosely based on the Philip experiment and directed by John Pogue tells the story of a college professor (Jared Harris) who attempts to prove poltergeists are manifestations of the human psyche and not supernatural beings. Claflin plays Brian McNeil, one of the professor’s students who is invited to film the experiment. The movie was released in April 2014.

In February 2013, it was announced by Deadline that Sam Claflin and Lily Collins had board on a new project, a film based on the novel Where Rainbows End by author Cecelia Ahern. The romantic comedy, titled then “Love, Rosie” tells the story of two best friends– Alex (Sam Claflin) and Rosie (Lily Collins) who are planning to head to the United States for college when Rosie discovers she’s pregnant. Keeping the secret to herself, she tells Alex she didn’t get in the college, encouraging him to go without her. The movie then follows the two characters as they live their separate lives while still communicating with eachother over the next 12 years. Filming began in May 2013, in Toronto before moving to Dublin. The movie was released on October 2014.

The following month it was announced that Sam would be the male lead of “Love, Rosie”, he starred in the television movie “Mary and Martha”. The movie premiered on March 1, 2013 on BBC and tells the story of two mothers who lose their sons to malaria. Sam plays Ben, Martha’s (Brenda Blethyn) son.

He received critical acclaims for his role in the British drama “The Riot Club”, directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Laura Wade, based on Wade’s 2010 play Posh. The movie stars Sam Claflin, Max Irons and Douglas Booth and is set among the Riot Club, a fictional all-male, exclusive dining club at Oxford University. Sam played Alistair Ryle, a young man who is politically right, leading to intense conflict and rivalry with Miles (Max Irons). Sam Claflin steals the show in “The Riot Club” and the critics have all good things to say about his portrayal of the character. Charlotte O’Sullivan of the London Evening Standard wrote on her review of the movie that “Claflin captures his character’s vitriol very well” while Emma Dibdib from Digital Spy stated “It’s Alistair who initially promises to be the film’s most interesting character, and Claflin brings intrigue and vulnerability to offset the sense of entitlement.” The movie was shoot in June 2013 in Oxford, England and had its release in September 2014.

Oh Finnick, Finnick. On July 2012, Lionsgate announced that the third and final installment in “The Hunger Games” series would be split in two parts. Stef Dawson was announced to play Finnick’s love, Annie Cresta, in August 2013 before the movie began its shooting in September 2013. “Mockingjay” shooting began in Atlanta, finishing in Berlin on June 2014. A curious fact? Part 1 from the third installment was shoot back-to-back with Part 2. During the film’s promotion, Sam was asked multiple times about how he felt about the franchise he was been working out for years coming to an end. He tells ComicBook.com “On one hand, it’s very sad to say goodbye to something you’ve grown so close to and a character that I’ve grown so attached to so seeing the back of all that will be very sad but at the same time it has been a huge part of my life and it’s done not only amazing things for my career but other people’s careers. It’s gonna be enjoyable to see where we all go from here. It’s nice to see everyone grow up and mature and learn as much as they have. These are memories we’ll have forever and you can only hope to see down the line that you’ll have an opportunity to do something like this again.” I think its safe to say that no matter what, Finnick will always be in our hearts. Part 1 was released in November 2014 and Part 2 in November 2015.

In May 2015 it was confirmed that Sam would be making a small appearance as William in the “Snow White and The Huntsman” sequel, “The Huntsman: Winter’s War”. The sequel can be seen as yes, a sequel but also as a prequel, since it takes place before and after the events of the first film. Filming took place at Waverley Abbey in Surrey, England in April 2015. Sam seen on set of the film, shooting a scene with Chris Hemsworth in July 2015. The movie was released in April 2016.

News broke in September 2014 that Sam Claflin and Emilia Clarke were cast in the adaptation of “Me Before You”, a novel writen by Jojo Moyes. The movie tells the story of a girl, Louisa Clark (Emilia Clarke), who forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralyzed man, Will Traynor (Sam Claflin), she’s taking care of. Filming for the movie began in April 2015, and ended on June 26, 2015. It was shot in Wales and Spain. The film was released in June 2016.

April 2015. It was announced that Sam Claflin, Gemma Arterton and Bill Nighy would star in“Their Finest”, a british comedy film directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Gaby Chiappe, based on the 2009 novel Their Finest Hour and a Half by Lissa Evans. The film, set during World War II, tells the story of some  filmmakers trying to make a patriotic film about the Miracle of Dunkirk to boost morale of the British during The Blitz. Filming began in early September 2015, in London. The film had its first screening at Toronto International Film Festival in September 10, 2016.

What’s next for Sam Claflin? 

“My Cousin Rachel”, a british drama about a young Englishman who plots revenge against his mysterious, beautiful cousin, believing that she murdered his guardian. The film, an adaptation of the novel by British author Daphne du Maurier, stars Sam Claflin, Rachel Weisz, Holliday Grainger. The film is set to be released in 2017.

“Friday”, a biopic about the British soccer legend Robin Friday, based on the biography The Greatest Footballer You Never Saw: The Robin Friday Story, co-written by Paul McGuigan and Paolo Hewitt. In the upcoming film, Sam plays Robin Friday. There is no date for the movie release, nor more information.

This biography was written by the staff at Sam Claflin Web, and will be updated regulay. Please do not republish this anywhere else without our permission. The biography was last updated on the September 21, 2016.