Me Before You' Team on Understanding Will's "Extreme" Decision

One of the earliest things I learned as an actor was to never judge your character, to never think anything he does is wrong," Sam Claflin said. "You have to understand why he makes certain decisions or why he does certain things, why he's in a certain situation or a certain circumstance and work back from there."
[Warning: The following story contains spoilers from Me Before You.]

Playing the quadriplegic leading man in the movie adaptation of Jojo Moyes' best-selling novel Me Before You came with a "minefield of challenges," star Sam Claflin told The Hollywood Reporter of his role as Will Traynor.

Physically, Claflin said he "had to be still and use muscles I wasn't used to using in order to manipulate my body into a certain position and sustain that for hours and hours on end. It was a very, very tough shoot but one that I would do again." But he said the character's "emotional journey" was even more daunting.
If the funniest thing you can think of while watching a film is play match the actor to the TV show, then obviously the film is not engaging. Indeed, as those who read Moyes' book know, after being paralyzed in an accident and miserable in his current state, Will is determined to end his life and ultimately goes through with assisted suicide despite finding happiness with his caretaker Lou Clark, played by Emilia Clarke. Will makes the same controversial decision in the movie Spoleto City

"Playing somebody who wants to kill himself quite literally is one of the hardest things to understand when I've never felt like that," Claflin said. "I've spoken to people who have or are feeling like that and it scars you and I can't help but think back to those people and hope that they're still OK and find a reason to live."

Indeed, as those who read Moyes' book know, after being paralyzed in an accident and miserable in his current state, Will is determined to end his life and ultimately goes through with assisted suicide despite finding happiness with his caretaker Lou Clark, played by Emilia Clarke. Will makes the same controversial decision in the movie.
As she was deciding what to keep and what to cut, she and Sharrock focused on Will and Lou's romance. Her character - the inexperienced working-class caregiver for a 30-ish quadriplegic so rich that his parents have an ancient castle beside the castle in which they live - is meant to be sweetly clumsy, with the fashion instincts of a 6-year-old who has been conked on the head (each new assemblage of fuzzy tops, tiny polka-dot skirts, and bumblebee tights is a fright), but Clarke is so insistent on becoming the new adorkable life force that she's excruciating to watch. Spoleto City