A Hunger Games star is surprisingly grateful for a recent “breakdown” on their latest project.
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Sam Claflin stole hearts as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire over a decade ago, but it seems playing grieving psychiatrist Joel Lazarus in Harlan Coben’s Lazarus has stolen something else—his own perspective on life.
“It definitely was new territory,” the 39-year-old told PEOPLE recently of his latest role. “I think he’s very similar to me in many ways, and I’ve spent quite a lot of my career hiding behind masks or characters or physicality, and this felt like it was me — in a new city, in a new world, with new people.”
The Amazon Prime show follows Joel, played by Sam Claflin, who learns his father (Bill Nighy) has died by suicide—though Joel doubts this. Claflin describes Joel as someone who’s “been hiding for so much of his life,” a trait the actor admits he could relate to.
“Most of my career, I was hiding behind different masks,” the star confessed. “I’ve spent my entire life not really understanding who I am, and hiding or suppressing my emotions and not facing the facts, and yeah, I guess hiding or lying to myself.”
The series allowed him to dig deeper into his own emotions.
“I’ve definitely opened myself up a lot more to how I feel, and not needing or wanting everyone to like me anymore. I feel like I was so in need of validation from external sources, whereas now, it’s like, well, no, how do I feel? It doesn’t really matter what other people think of me — I’ll be me, and you either like me or you don’t,” he explained.
“I think there was something so noble about exploring that through the shoes, the eyes of somebody else.”
How a Looming Birthday Led to a Breakthrough for Sam Claflin
That said, a looming birthday may have contributed to the cavalcade of emotions.
“Maybe it’s an age thing,” he admitted. “I’m reaching 40 next year, and I think a lot of — not just men, but women, too — spend our lives hiding or suppressing these feelings or these experiences, only for them to erupt at a later time, which is why we so commonly hear the phrase midlife crisis.”
Playing Joel in Lazarus has given Claflin the chance to explore his own emotions, experiencing a kind of midlife crisis—one marked more by self-discovery than turmoil.
“It’s definitely led to that for me in a wonderful way. It’s really made me see myself and the world around me differently,” the star said of his latest role.
“I needed to address some issues in my life, and I’ve been busy doing that since we finished filming, basically,” he explained.
He admits he’s been “opening Pandora’s box” within himself. “I’m grateful for the breakdown,” Claflin said, calling it a “spiritual awakening.”
Harlan Coben’s Lazarus is now available to stream on Prime Video.