‘10 years after Poldark, I hope my brooding period drama fills the void’

Sam Claflin has been a familiar face on our screens for over a decade.

He won the hearts of Hunger Games fans as Finnick Odair in the dystopian film franchise, left cinemagoers heartbroken opposite Emilia Clarke in Me Before You, and gave a sinister performance as real-life fascist politician Oswald Mosley in Peaky Blinders.

Now, the 39-year-old is playing arguably his most vengeful role yet, becoming the latest actor to embody Alexandre Dumas’ legendary literary character Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte Cristo.

Metro recently spoke to Sam about portraying the compelling character, remarking how ever since Poldark began 10 years ago, it’s felt as though there’s been a gap on TV for a new brooding period drama… and perhaps The Count of Monte Cristo could fill that void.

‘I definitely hope so. I know there have been shows like Bridgerton that have brought a fresh edge to the genre, but I think there’s always an audience for these classic retellings,’ he responds.

‘As a kid who grew up watching The Three Musketeers and being such a fan of Alexander Dumas’ previous works, that world and that era is strangely exciting and almost fantastical, because it feels much before our time. So it almost feels like a history lesson.’

It was apparently evident during our Zoom call how big a fan I am of dark period dramas, as he then added: ‘You can only hope that audiences are craving as much as you seem to be, but I definitely feel like it has all the elements that could, could make it a must-watch.’

Like us, Sam couldn’t believe it when he took stock of the fact that Poldark – which shot Aidan Turner to a stratospheric level of fame as the scything army captain Ross Poldark – is 10 years old.

‘I definitely am like you. I love historical drama. But I guess we haven’t had that much,’ he says. ‘I remember when it was all the rage, it put Aidan Turner on the map. It was a great series.’

Edmond Dantès has been depicted multiple times in films and TV shows over the years, with actors who’ve taken on the role including the likes of John Gilbert, Richard Chamberlain and Jim Caviezel.

The character embarks on a warpath for revenge when he’s wrongfully imprisoned for several years and separated from the love of his life. When Edmond returns to society, he’s transformed into the Count of Monte Cristo and is a shadow of the man he was before.

‘It’s known as a classic for a reason,’ Sam shares. ‘The characters are so rich and complex, and that’s not just Edmond’s character, but every single character within the story, the subplots and sidelines.

‘It’s just an incredibly authentic insight into what life was like back then in France, the politics, as much as seeing how the nobility lived.’

In recent years, some of Sam’s biggest projects have included starring as rockstar Billy Dunne in Daisy Jones and the Six, and as Sherlock’s brother Mycroft Holmes in Enola Holmes, alongside Millie Bobby Brown and Henry Cavill.

He has no shortage of iconic roles under his belt – but for him, The Count of Monte Cristo was a ‘dream job’.

‘There’s so many layers to him’, he explains. ‘The whole story is him pretending or acting as another character, even though he’s someone else – it was quite a head spin. Am I Edmond, or am I still the Count of Monte Cristo? It was a challenge, but one that I was very excited to get my teeth stuck into.’

In the early stages of his career, Sam admits that he tended to go for roles that he felt would take him ‘as far away from myself as possible’, so that he could ‘hide behind the characters that I was playing and disappear in them’.

‘Or at least thought I was trying to do my best to do that,’ he shares. ‘But actually, and this is me looking back in reflection, I feel that it loses some of its authenticity when you’re completely hiding.’

So in recent years, he’s tried to lean more towards characters that he can relate to on a deeper level, or who have had similar experiences to him, or someone that he knows.

‘I don’t know anyone who has been as vengeful as Edmond Dantès. But I definitely found myself more recently being more drawn to roles that are modern-day and men rather than boys, if that makes sense,’ he states.

‘Up until recently, I kept feeling like scripts were coming across my desk looking for someone in their mid-20s who is a boy turning into a man. I’m like, no, I’m 39, those stories have got to stop.

‘I have new strings to my bow. I’m a dad, and I’ve lived a life and navigated a lot of things that I feel I can bring to my art or storytelling that will feel authentic and real rather than pretending.’

The Count of Monte Cristo is available from 2nd August on U and U&Drama.

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