FIRST PIC: See Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

USMagazine, Friday, September 14, 2012, 7:30am (PDT)

Before he was officially cast as Finnick Odar on August 22, naysayers wondered if the typically slender Sam Claflin had what it takes to play the hunky, womanizing victor from District 4 in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The English actor, 26, silenced those critics when he was photographed in costume on set in Atlanta, Georgia, September 13. A shirtless Claflin -- who most recently starred opposite Kristen Stewart in Snow White and the Huntsman -- looked more muscular than ever, revealing his tight abs and bulging biceps in between takes.

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The day prior, Claflin was seen wearing black spandex pants -- the same ones his character uses while training to compete the deathly Quarter Quell. Claflin's costars Josh Hutcherson, Jena Malone, Willow Shields and Alan Ritchson were also photographed walking around the set.

Other actors who were considered for the part of Finnick Odar included The Social Network's Armie Hammer, 25, Battleship's Taylor Kitsch, 31, and Country Strong's Garrett Hedlund, 27.

"They did [approach me]," Hedlund recently admitted to MTV News. "But I was working on [On the Road] at the time. We shot the whole film in 23 days and I was really immersed in it. I couldn't get around [to reading the Hunger Games novels]."

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"Everybody around me is flipping out about the books, and I didn't really have the time to sit down lately to read any book, not just Hunger Games," Hedlund added. "But I've got a couple [projects] on my plate that I'm looking forward to reading now."

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Directed by Water for Elephants' Francis Lawrence and based on the dystopian novel by Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will be released in theaters November 22, 2013. Original stars Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth will reprise their roles as Katniss Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne, respectively.

This article originally appeared on Usmagazine.com: FIRST PIC: See Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire