Sam Claflin gets candid on mental health struggles triggered by showbiz

Sam Claflin had a vulnerable conversation about the internal struggles he faces when his work is being on camera all the time.

The 39-year-old actor, who has previously opened up about his body dysmorphia, talked about his insecurities in a new interview.

The Daisy Jones & the Six star shared that being in the entertainment industry makes it even worse because it triggers the insecure feelings, during an interview on Fearne Cotton’s Happy Place podcast.

Claflin continued, “I just went to a screening of a film I was in, and everyone immediately afterwards, the director, producers, [said] ‘How was it?’ I was like, ‘I hated it.’ It’s my face I don’t like. I don’t like me.”

The Hunger Games actor further told the host that his insecurities started in childhood, and strengthened over time, from not being able to perform as well in P.E. class and being “embarrassed” for not being strong enough, to feeling subjected to everyone’s opinions while being on camera.

“Being in the industry that I’m in, and being especially now the entire world has the opportunity to have their opinion, I think, yeah, it really affects you,” the Love Rosie actor added.

“A lot of the roles I played earlier on in my career … I had a topless scene in one of my first movies, but wasn’t told, it wasn’t in the script. I got told like a week before they were going to take my top off, and I’m like, ‘S--t, I haven’t been working out. What am I going to do? This is like my first introduction to the world,’” Claflin recalled, adding that even though most men he has spoken too, share this feeling in some degree but his got out of hand.

While Claflin noted that he does have to struggle against it every single day, he is also a very happy person, specifically because of being a father.

“I embrace that role with all of me. I was born to be a nurturer. … Having kids has given me my life’s purpose, I feel,” he said, of his kids, son Pip, 10, and daughter Margot, 8, whom he shares with his ex-wife, Laura Haddock.