Not all “The Hunger Games” fans may have been pleased with Sam Claflin joining the cast of the hotly anticipated sequel “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire“, but for one lucky actor it’s been a blessing.

Deadline reports that Sam Reid, a British actor who also studied at LAMDA where Claflin graduated in 2009, has taken the lead role in the historical drama, “Belle“, after Clafin was forced to exit due to scheduling conflicts.

The film, directed by Amma Asante, is based on the true story about a mixed-race young woman raised as an aristocratic lady in Great Britain at the end of the 18th Century, set against the backdrop of a legal case concerning the end of slavery in England. Fellow British actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw will play the titular character, full name Dido Elizabeth Belle Lindsay, while Canadian Sarah Gadon, most recently seen on screen in David Cronenberg’s “Cosmopolis” will play her cousin. Reid will take the lead male character, John Daviner, a man of high social standing who Dido falls in love with.

The film also stars Miranda Richardson, Tom Wilkinson and Matthew Goode, and production begins at the end of the month.

Reid has recently finished filming on “The Railway Man” with Colin Firth and Jeremy Irvine, and stars alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in the upcoming “Serena“.