Sam Claflin Biography

Sam Claflin was born Samuel George Claflin on 27 June 1986, in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. He spent his childhood in Norwich, a city in Norfolk County. His father Mark Claflin is an accountant, while his mother Sue Claflin is an education assistant.

He has two elder brothers, Benjamin and Daniel, and a younger brother Joseph. Sam was very passionate about soccer in his early years. He became a registered member of ‘School of Excellence’ under ‘Norwich City Football Club.’ He spent a lot of time playing, but an unfortunate injury forced him to stop playing football.

Sam attended ‘Costessey High School’ (presently known as Ormiston Victory Academy) in Norfolk where he caught the attention of a teacher who encouraged him to take up acting. Egged on by his mother, he took admission in ‘Norwich City College’ in 2003 to pursue a program in performing arts.

Later on, Claflin went to ‘London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art’ from where he earned his graduate degree in 2009.

Sam Claflin started his career as a professional actor when he successfully auditioned for the role of ‘Richard of Kingsbridge’ in ‘The Pillars of the Earth,’ a TV miniseries, in 2010. He went on to feature in seven more episodes of ‘The Pillars of the Earth.’

He was featured in a post-apocalyptic telefilm titled ‘Lost Future,’ produced by SyFy Channel, in 2010. He earned kudos for portraying junior ‘Logan Mountstuart’ in the PBS miniseries ‘Any Human Heart,’ which received a ‘BAFTA’ in 2011.

Claflin depicted a footballer named ‘Duncan Edwards’ in ‘United,’ a telefilm endorsed by BBC TV. The movie dramatized the tragic events surrounding the catastrophic plane crash that took place in Munich airport on 6 February 1958. Eight players and three staff members of ‘Manchester United FC’ died in the crash.

The turning point in Claflin’s acting career came when he was selected to play ‘Phillip Swift’ in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,’ the fourth film in the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ movie series.

He was nominated for an ‘Empire Award’ in the ‘Best Male Newcomer’ category in 2012 for his role in ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.’ In the same year, he was cast as ‘William’ in the movie ‘Snow White and the Huntsman.’

He earned a nomination for ‘Teen Choice Award’ for ‘Best Movie Breakout’ in 2012. He landed the protagonist’s role of ‘Brian McNeil’ in the film ‘The Quiet Ones,’ which was commercially released in 2014.

‘Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation’ made a formal announcement on 22 August 2012 saying that Claflin would be starring as ‘Finnick Odair’ in ‘The Hunger Games,’ a movie series. The second installment of the film series titled ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,’ directed by Francis Lawrence, was screened in 2013.

Claflin’s immaculate depiction of ‘Odair’ in ‘The Hunger Games’ films earned him rave reviews. He was part of the supporting cast in the movie and shared screen space with Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Woody Harrelson, and Liam Hemsworth among others.

The third and fourth installments of the film series, ‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay’ (part 1 and part 2), were released in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

It was officially announced in 2013 that Claflin would star as ‘Alex Stewart’ in the movie ‘Love, Rosie.’ The film is based on Irish author Cecelia Ahern’s novel ‘Where Rainbows End,’ which became a bestseller following its publication in 2004.

In March 2013, he appeared as ‘Ben’ in the telefilm ‘Mary and Martha.’ The British-American film, televised by BBC One, featured ‘Oscar’ award-winning actress Hilary Swank, and English actress Brenda Anne Blethyn. Richard Curtis wrote the script for the telefilm, which was directed by Phillip Noyce.

Sam’s poignant portrayal of ‘Alistair Ryle,’ a student of ‘Oxford University,’ in ‘Riot Club’ was highly praised by movie buffs and film critics.

In 2016, Claflin reprised his role as ‘William’ in ‘The Huntsman: Winter's War,’ a sequel to ‘Snow White and the Huntsman.’ He also played ‘Will Traynor’ and ‘Tom Buckley’ in ‘Me Before You’ and ‘Their Finest’ respectively.

In 2017, he played the part of ‘Philip Ashley’ in the movie ‘My Cousin Rachel.’ He also played ‘Captain Stanhope’ in the movie ‘Journey’s End.’

In 2018, he was cast in the lead role opposite Shailene Woodley in Baltasar Kormákur’s film ‘Adrift.’ Based on a true story, the movie follows a couple who struggles to get back to Hawaii after being washed up in the Pacific Ocean following a hurricane. The same year, he was also seen in the movie ‘The Nightingale.’

The following year, he had a recurring role in the fifth season of BBC crime drama ‘Peaky Blinders’ in which he played ‘Oswald Mosley.’ He was then seen in films like ‘The Corrupted’ and ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ He also voiced ‘Merlin’ in the animated fantasy film ‘Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs.’

In 2020, he played the lead role of 'Jack' in Dean Craig's romantic comedy film 'Love Wedding Repeat.' A remake of the 2012 French film 'Plan de Table,' the movie also starred Olivia Munn and Eleanor Tomlinson.

Over the course of his career, Sam Claflin has played several noteworthy roles in films and TV series. Some of his best known roles have been portrayed in projects, such as ‘Pirates of the Caribbean,’ ‘Snow White and the Huntsman,’ ‘The Hunger Games,’ ‘Riot Club,’ ‘The Pillars of the Earth,’ ‘The Lost Future,’ and ‘Any Human Heart.’

Sam Claflin has been nominated for several awards and honors in his professional career so far. He was nominated twice for ‘Empire Award’ (2012 and 2014), thrice for ‘Teen Choice Award’ (2012, 2014, and 2016), and the 2017 ‘MTV Movie & TV Award.’

He won the ‘Glamour Award’ for ‘Man of the Year’ in 2014.

Sam Claflin has English and American ancestry. Newton Cleveland Claflin, his paternal great-grandfather, hailed from Revere, Massachusetts. He is a direct descendant of Robert McClaughlin who migrated to Essex in Massachusetts from Scotland in the 17th century.

He first met actress Laura Haddock while auditioning for the short film ‘My Week with Marilyn’ in 2011. Though Claflin and Laura were both unsuccessful in landing their respective roles, they developed an affinity for each other.

Laura and Claflin got married in 2013 after a prolonged courtship. The couple was blessed with a son in 2015 and a daughter in 2018.

Claflin announced his legal separation from Laura in August 2019.