Sam Claflin has previously discussed his skill at an American accent, but he explained that he had to take it to another level while shooting ‘Catching Fire’. In a new interview [via HG Girl On Fire], he discusses the difficulties in maintaining the American accent throughout filming, adding, “When I was on set, there was obviously times that knowing that I would, you know, speak a lot, I would kind of try and keep the accent going when they say ‘Cut’, you know to kind of keep it in my brain. But I was also ’cause I was surrounded by Americans, that it was a lot easier to kinda come by. It wasn’t too much of an issue, I don’t think . There was a couple of moments that the director would say ‘Sam – you said that completely wrong’ ‘Oh God, sorry!’ But then, you know, that’s something that I can do in post-production and we can re-record things. Not really a big deal.”
Sam Claflin and Josh Hutcherson shooting 'Catching Fire'
He also talks about Finnick Odair being his favorite character while reading the book, adding, “He definitely stuck out somewhat. But for all the wrong reasons. Very selfishly, that was the only character I really cared about. No, but the great thing about the books, um, that Suzanne Collins kind of created great arcs to each and every character. No matter, you know, from Katniss all the way down to her sister, her mother. You know each character kinda goes on a journey and I think that’s what’s so perfect about the books themselves.”
He adds that he had an in-depth conversation with the director, Francis Lawrence, about his character in the movies, and said, “There was definitely a conversation that I had with the director. He was one of the first people I met when I first arrived in America. We had a sit-down, we talked through the script, through the novels and about the previous film. I knew that he wasn’t the director on that but we talked about the flaws and ways of improving or developing the characters’ arc. And obviously, the unfortunate thing about a film version is that they are trying to make it accessible to a younger audience. There are certain aspects you can’t include, one being, Finnick Odair wearing just the net, not covering his crotch – that was something that we couldn’t, unfortunately, include but you know, I’m scantily clad.”
Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson in 'Catching Fire'
While he adds that even though he won’t be completely naked, but still ‘scantily clad’, he also mentions that he took as much advantage of the resources as he possible could, adding, “Hopefully people will still be happy. It was quite, kind of – being able to have this kind of discussion with the director and with other cast members as well, you know, talking about how our character arc together and journey that we all go on. You know, it’s invaluable, really – you have to kind of really take that and use that and make the most of it.”
Sam Claflin is Finnick Odair in 'Catching Fire'
