Sam Claflin was a keen footballer in his youth and planned to sign up for Norwich City, but his sporting career was cut short when he suffered a broken ankle.

Sam Claflin's mother suggested he tried his hand at acting instead and he won roles in several minor British TV shows. In 2011 he was plucked from obscurity to star as Johnny Depp's new sidekick in "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides".