Sam Claflin has revealed the “raw” emotions he was feeling due to his divorce from Laura Haddock helped inform his new role in Daisy Jones & The Six.
The actors – who share two children together – announced their separation in 2019 after six years of marriage.
Peaky Blinders and Hunger Games star Claflin, 36, has spoken candidly with GQ Hype magazine about the difficulties he faced navigating their split and co-parenting amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Speaking of his divorce, he said: “It’s a horrendous thing to go through. Every break-up is difficult, and obviously having kids makes it even more.
“During Covid I really f****** struggled with the kids and, mentally, where my life was.
“Working through that, I’ve started getting to a point where I’m not afraid of saying no anymore.”
However, he found similarities with his character in the new musical drama series as he plays Billy Dunne who is working through martial strife with his wife Camila Alvarez, played by Camila Morrone.
“These emotions are still quite raw for me. I can just take from that and put myself in this situation because I lived through it”, he said.
After a career playing shirtless hunks, "Daisy Jones & The Six" is letting @SamClaflin access his most personal material yet: https://t.co/vTBW9oqPHD pic.twitter.com/dEhfTSlOVd
— British GQ (@BritishGQ) March 20, 2023
The Amazon Prime series, adapted from Taylor Jenkins Reid’s hit novel, chronicles the rise and fall of a fictional 1970s rock band.
It also stars Elvis Presley’s granddaughter, Riley Keough, as the eponymous Jones.
The series is another departure from Claflin’s prior projects, having previously played Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games film series and starring in the romantic film Me Before You alongside Emilia Clarke.
After portraying a number of heartthrob roles, he turned his hand to grittier parts but has admitted that he went too far and that he would not take on certain roles again, notably a murderous lieutenant for 2018’s The Nightingale.
“I went through a stage of desperately vying for an Oscar but doing things that were really not me. Physically, emotionally transforming myself”, he said.
“(The Nightingale) was too far the other way. I think that was the turning point in my life. I don’t think I could do that again.”