Profile: SAM WORTHINGTON RISES IN 'TERMINATOR: SALVATION' AND TALKS JAMES CAMERON'S 'AVATAR' AND 'CLASH OF THE TITANS' - iFMagazine.com Send to a friend

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Profile: SAM WORTHINGTON RISES IN 'TERMINATOR: SALVATION' AND TALKS JAMES CAMERON'S 'AVATAR' AND 'CLASH OF THE TITANS'

The Aussie actor has transformed into the 'It' star of 2009

By CARL CORTEZ and EMMANUEL ITIER, Contributing Writers
Published 5/25/2009

Some times all it takes is one movie to change your fortunes and you’re suddenly the “it” actor or actress in Hollywood.

For Aussie actor Sam Worthington, 2009 is his year to be “it.”

Starring in TERMINATOR: SALVATION (in theaters now) as Marcus Wright, the actor had a chance to play a major role in the re-formation of the popular James Cameron-created franchise. And even though Cameron’s nowhere to be found on SALVATION’s creative brain trust, he was hired by Cameron (way before SALVATION came along) to star in his new science-fiction film AVATAR due out in September.

“It feels f*cking good,” says Worthington with a laugh. “I don't know whether I’m the ‘it’ guy or something, I think I'm just in a lucky position. I'm getting offered roles that I find interesting and I'm working with some very talented people and hopefully telling some good stories. And hopefully my work isn’t going to let those people down.”

For SALVATION, Worthington plays a mysterious figure who sits on death row only to be offered “salvation” by donating his body parts to science. Of course, how they’re used is a big twist in the new film which provided the actor with non-stop action.

“I think the toughest thing is trying to get a sense of grit and gravity and weight in your performance that actually isn’t just kind of being overshadowed by all the explosions and the action,” says Worthington. “You've got to bring out, for want of a better word, the heart of this character. And I think the hardest thing was making sure that I was on the right track and that it wasn’t melodramatic.”

That said, Worthington says being believable during the action beats was actually pretty easy the way director McG shoots.

“It’s not hard to run faster and get the hell out of there when things are going bang, bang, bang,” Worthington says with a laugh.

The actor has nothing but high praise for working with McG – especially since he cares about making the best movie possible.

“He’s a good director, he’s friendly, he’s giving and he wants to make good films,” adds Worthington. “That's nice to be a part of that instead of some director sitting back going, 'F*ck it. I make it because I want to.' You know, he wants to give it to an audience.”

Working with Cameron on AVATAR was also a great experience for Worthington who was an unproven lead when the director cast him.

“I auditioned by putting something on tape and then a week later they flew me to meet him, told me to be on my best behavior -- which I wasn’t,” Worthington says with a smile.

Since Worthington felt he had nothing to lose, he was very blunt with Cameron.

“I just went in and said, 'Look, I've got nothing to lose, man, so let’s f*cking get to work' and that was it,” says Worthington. “For six months you worked to get the job, and it took six months for me and Jim to convince a studio that you can cast an unknown actor or an untested actor in a mega blockbuster. So for six months with Jim, we would do auditions for the studio, but it was more a sense of me getting to know this man that you're going to be spending a year of your life with. So I would say, 'Look, I've done ten years in Australia and I’ll give you ten years’ worth of what I know, and can we work together' And it was the best six months before we even started filming.”

In fact, Worthington sold everything he owned before he began filming AVATAR with Cameron to make things even easier.

“I knew it was going to be a long haul,” adds Worthington. “I had two bags -- a bag of books and a bag of clothes. I had nothing. So I said to Jim, 'I’ll give you everything because I've got f*cking nothing,' and since then, because I've been working so consistently, that’s all I've got, two bags. I just travel around with the same bags.”

With its unique blend of motion capture, Worthington says AVATAR will be unlike anything anyone’s ever seen. In comparing it to TITANIC, Worthington notes, “It’s totally different. One’s about a boat, one’s about a plant.”

Still, at the end of the day, as much as Cameron uses all the available technology at his disposal, Worthington says the movie is all about “story first.”

“He’s a very direct, actor-friendly director,” says Worthington. “So you can put all the bells and whistles you like on it, like with TERMINATOR, you know, but if it’s not about revealing something of the human spirit, people are going to tune out. And Jim’s very in touch with personal relationships especially with AVATAR, with what it means to be a man, you know? I can take that from it. How people were affected by bullies, and I think all those kinds of themes, and a sense of hope. If you settle that and then surround it with great technology and f*cking whiz-bang explosions, then you're on the path to making something that people will remember when the leave the cinema and not just kind of go, 'What did we just see?'”

And with AVATAR being such a secretive process, Worthington admits he has actually seen some of the finished footage and thinks people are going to blown away.

“I think what he has done is push the boundaries of what going to a movie and experiencing movies is about,” says Worthington. “And this isn’t going to be the be all and end all, but it’s certainly hopefully going to show you the possibilities of motion capture at its finest, performance capture at its finest, 3D technology and computer animation and graphics at their best. And hopefully that starts a revolution.”

Currently, Worthington is starring in a remake of CLASH OF THE TITANS, playing Perseus directed by THE INCREDIBLE HULK’S Louis Leterrier.

“We've done two weeks,” says Worthington. “We took on the Medusa. We've took on the witches. Next week we've got to take on the Scorpius and then we go and f*cking kill the Kraken. So, you know, at the moment it’s all guns blaring kind of thing. It’s going to be good. I think Louis has got a very good eye and there's a great bunch of people I'm working with.”

But will he wear the infamous toga worn by Harry Hamlin in the 1981 original.

“I’ve got a skirt on,” says Worthington. “I don't think you can make a toga look that manly. I couldn't anyway, so I said, 'Armor me up, give me armor and a buzz cut and give me a skirt and a sword and let me loose.'?”

As for how different his world is now that Hollywood is tackling those around him to knock on his door, Worthington is rather Zen about his current fortune.

“Well I think the world changes around you, [but] I think you don't change,” he says. “That's as simple as that. I think if I changed, my mates are going to kick me in the ass. You know, I'm 32 years old. If I was 22, it probably could go to your head, but as far as I'm concerned, as long as it doesn't affect my work and I can keep producing a quality that gets you the work with the likes of McG and Jim Cameron, then I'm doing okay.”