Actor Sam Claflin Speaks out Against Male Body Shaming

(Photo: Twitter / @eamonnrafferty)Actor, Sam Claflin has some questions for the media’s [...]

By Tania Hussain

Sam-Claflin
(Photo: Twitter / @eamonnrafferty)

Actor, Sam Claflin has some questions for the media's depiction of what a leading man should look like by revealing he's "often felt like a piece of meat."

The 30-year-old English actor, best known for his roles in Me Before You and The Hunger Games, spoke to the Sydney Morning Herald recently and sparked a conversation about the unfair body standards men face. He told the Australian news agency that he often feels objectified on the set of films, saying "men have it just as bad — well, not just as bad, but they get it bad and it's never talked about."

MORE: Sam Claflin Speaks out Against Getting Photoshop Treatment

While promoting his new film, My Cousin Rachel, Claflin spoke to E! News about the recent comments that went viral and said the fact that it's "trending is kind of sad."

"It's obviously been going on for years and years," he said. "I'm not the first person to say, 'I, as a man, am insecure.'"

He went on to explain that "women have been going through this for centuries and men have, too," adding it's just not talked about. "I think it's interesting and it should be talked about more obviously."

Claflin also called out the common Hollywood image that many consider a double standard — the older man dating a younger woman.

"So often in films, you see a man in his 40s dating a 20-year-old, but vice versa and it's like a thriller," he said. "It's odd. I don't' know why."

The actor and his wife, Laura Haddock, who are parents to a one-year-old son, were able to connect on this issue and open up the conversation about body criticism in the workplace.

"I'm not saying it's anywhere near as bad as what women go through," he began. "But I, as an actor approaching each job, am insecure — especially when I have to take my top off in it — and so nervous."

The pressures are debilitating as Claflin revealed he has taken extreme measures to make his producers and directors happy by achieving the body they want that's perceived as "normal."

While he spends hours and hours in the gym and not eating for weeks, he shares it was never an issue before.

"In the '50s and '60s, it was never an issue. James Bond never had a six pack. He had a hairy chest," he said. "There's a filter on society that this is normal but actually it's anything but normal."

Related:

'Snow White' Parody Film Poster Slammed for Egregious Body Shaming
Aly Raisman Responds to Man Who Body Shamed Her at Airport
Kesha Talks Body Shaming and How the Internet Contributed to Her Eating Disorder

Trending Now: