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Sam Claflin says body shaming made him 'insecure'

The actor appeared shirtless as Finnick Odair in "The Hunger Games" movies.

By Annie Martin
Sam Claflin attends the New York premiere of "Me Before You" on May 23, 2016. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 3 | Sam Claflin attends the New York premiere of "Me Before You" on May 23, 2016. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

June 6 (UPI) -- Sam Claflin says body shaming left him "insecure" and "nervous" on set.

The 30-year-old British actor said in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald that male actors also face pressure to have a perfect body for roles.

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"I read in an interview recently and I think it's absolutely true: men have it just as bad," Claflin said. "Well, not just as bad but they get it bad and it's never talked about."

"I remember doing one job when they literally made me pull my shirt up and were grabbing my fat and going 'you need to lose a bit of weight,'" he recalled. "This other time they were slapping me. I felt like a piece of meat."

Claflin appeared shirtless as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games movies after much work and worry.

"I'm not saying it's anywhere as bad as what women go through but I, as an actor approaching each job, am insecure -- especially when I have to take my top off in it -- and so nervous," he confessed. "I get really worked up to the point where I spent hours and hours in the gym and not eating for weeks to achieve what I think they're going for."

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Claflin previously told the Guardian he was surprised to be cast in The Hunger Games film series.

"You read the books and my character's meant to look like a kind of Greek god. I wouldn't have cast me: a pale, English, overweight, stubbled kid. I like a beer and a burger," he said in 2015.

Claflin is also known for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Me Before You. He will next star in My Cousin Rachel with Rachel Weisz, and is also slated for Journey's End with Paul Bettany.

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