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Sam Claflin Opens Up About Experiencing Body Shaming on Set: ‘I Felt Like a Piece of Meat’

Sam Claflin is getting candid on his first-hand experiences with body shaming.

The 30-year-old British actor has played a variety of heartthrob roles on-screen -- Finnick in The Hunger Games franchise, William in Snow White and the Huntsman, and Will in Me Before You -- and says he has been openly judged for his weight while working. Claflin says body shaming definitely occurs for male actors as well as female actresses, though it's rarely discussed.

"I read in an interview recently and I think it's absolutely true: men have it just as bad," he tells The Sydney Morning Herald. "Well, not just as bad but they get it bad and it's never talked about."

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"I remember doing one job when they literally made me pull my shirt up and were grabbing my fat and going, 'You need to lose a bit of weight.' This other time they were slapping me. I felt like a piece of meat."

Claflin admits he has lingering issues because of the experiences.

"I'm not saying it's anywhere near as bad as what women go through but I, as an actor approaching each job, am insecure -- especially when I have to take my top off in it -- and so nervous," he shares. "I get really worked up to the point where I spend hours and hours in the gym and not eating for weeks to achieve what I think they're going for."

The actor points out that movie standards have changed over time.

"In the '50s and '60s, it was never an issue," he says. "James Bond never had a six pack. He had a hairy chest. Marlon Brando​ in A Streetcar Named Desire had an incredible body but he was by no means ripped to within an inch of his life. There's a filter on society that this is normal but actually it's anything but normal."

WATCH: Russell Crowe Claps Back at Howard Stern for Reportedly Body Shaming Him

Claflin isn't the only male star to speak up about body shaming. In March, Chris Pratt addressed those criticizing him for apparently losing too much weight with a humorous Instagram post.

"Well, just because I am a male doesn't mean I'm impervious to your whispers," he wrote. "Body shaming hurts."

Watch below:

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