Behind the scenes with Sam Claflin
Sam Claflin (faced many challenges in co-starring with Shailene Woodley in Adrift, about lovers lost at sea, a story of courage and survival. To play sailor Richard Sharp, Claflin (You Before Me) had to shed weight and was seasick during the shoot that largely took place in the open Pacific Ocean off Fiji. Adrift was described as “as crushingly hard to imagine as it is to watch” by the Observer. Claflin describes his experience filming the movie, meeting one of its characters and working with the brilliant Woodley (Big
Little Lies, The Fault In Our Stars). Tell us about your character, Richard.
If you are a sailor you are a risk taker. It is a very dangerous way of living and he is someone who has done that many times before. He has literally sailed halfway around the world. The boat you see him on in the beginning of the movie, he built that by hand in South Africa. He is used to his own company. I think there are many similarities between myself and him so it was easy to draw inspiration from my own life and experiences. I consider myself someone who takes risks, but he lived more on the edge than I do. I can’t help but admire him. Because your character is stranded on a boat for such a long time with little food, you had to lose a lot of weight for the role. How did you do that?
I had just got back from shooting a film called The Nightingale, which was the heaviest I had ever been. I had put weight on for the role so I had about four weeks between the end of that and the beginning of day one of filming. I remember arriving in Fiji and sitting down for breakfast with (director) Baltasar (Kormákur), who was very polite in trying to ask me to look more like a sailor (laughs). I knew I needed to lose weight. My diet began the second I set foot in Fiji.
How much weight did you have to lose?
I was just over 15 stone (95kg) doing The Nightingale and by the end of Adrift I was under 12.5 stone (79kg). It was over a threemonth period. I did the same thing for Me Before You and The Hunger Games. Having done it enough to know what I have to do, it was still really difficult.
One of the keys to the film is the relationship between Tami (Woodley) and your character. How did you and Shailene
make sure this was reflected in the movie?
We got on really well and really quickly. I actually missed my birthday in getting out to Fiji. l left Los Angeles at 11.45pm on June 26 and landed in Fiji on June 28. I was like: “I missed my birthday” (laughs). But she got me a birthday present and balloons so there was immediate respect. We have similar beliefs, we are both spiritual people, love family, friends and travelling the world. Balt is an extraordinary director. If you look at The Deep and Everest, it is evident he does not like to do films that are easy.
I’d say he is the epitome of a modern-day Viking. As an Icelandic man, it is obvious in the choices he has made — he definitely likes a challenge and pushes people to meet his own standard. He allowed Shailene and myself to do our own stunt work. He had us sailing the yacht as opposed to a double. He wanted it to be as authentic as possible. It would have been easier to shoot it in a beautiful, anchored harbour or whatever, but he pushed us to our limits. I’m grateful.
What was it like meeting the real-life Tami (Woodley’s character) for the first time?
That was a crazy day because I hadn’t personally reached out to Tami before shooting. When she came to Fiji it was almost terrifying and we were sitting for lunch, but there was a moment where I was telling a story or a joke over lunch and she fell silent. Someone asked her if she was OK and she said: “I can’t get over how much Sam reminds me of Richard. You are him. You embody his qualities. His character.” There was a moment of relief.
What were the biggest challenges filming this movie?
Physically, just being a sailor, is incredibly demanding. I think what we both struggled with at times is that we were both on such strict diets it meant we weren’t getting much fuel and we had to do physically demanding
It would have been easier to shoot it in an anchored harbour or whatever, but he pushed us to our limits. I’m grateful
sailing work. That was tough at times. But, it’s not hard to remind yourself of other people — Tami of course, lived through a lot worse. The amount of times I got burns on my hands from the ropes and then you would have to do the take again with fresh burns. But I loved it. I love a challenge.
What was it like shooting a film on the ocean? It must have been totally different to anything you had done before.
It was incredibly different because we were so reliant on the weather. A decision was made that we would pretty much only use natural light, so we were relying on the sun and it being in the right position. We would also have the current moving us. We would have to be patient and stay in the moment and then they would have to capture a moment in two minutes. We had to be prepared all of the time. We also had to trust everyone. Everyone was helping everyone in every department no matter if you were a grip, gaffer or costume. Everyone was doing everything. We were all part of the art department.
Do you consider yourself adventurous?
I like the fact there is risk in life. With my job I get to go on adventures and I get to go to Fiji and sail yachts. That is an incredible part of what we do. Could I be more of an adrenaline junkie? Yes. I would happily jump out of a plane, but I just let things come my way. I don’t have a bucket list. LS