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Sam Worthington is the next Australian star to take Hollywood by storm.

FAME is going to hit Sam Worthington hard, but he seems unfazed by its approach.

If you’re going, “Sam, who?”, well, you won’t be saying that for long. Not after you watch the Aussie actor’s performance as Marcus Wright in the one of summer’s biggest and most-anticipated film, Terminator Salvation.

And he may not be a household name yet, but Worthington’s already being hailed as Australia’s newest breakout star and the Next Big Thing in Hollywood.

“That’s everyone else’s opinion!” said Worthington at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles in early May, when press interviews were conducted in conjunction with the show’s release.

“As far as I’m concerned, I’m hoping my job’s okay and I get another job,” said the 33-year-old actor.

But Worthington already has “other jobs”. After nearly stealing the show from Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation (though some believe he already has), he’s James Cameron’s leading man in the upcoming US$200mil 3D extravaganza Avatar, and he’s going to be Perseus in the 2010 flick Clash of the Titans. In fact, he’s been working back to back on movies for the past four years and has had only three weeks off since then.

But he’s still concerned that he could “stuff it up”.

“Any actor fears unemployment – even at this level. That fear drives you to keep working and doing the best you can do,” he said.

“I’ve just got to make sure (fame) doesn’t affect my work, and if my work is 100% committed and the characters are truthful and people feel sympathy and empathy for them, then I’m on the right track,” he said.

In Terminator Salvation, Bale stars as John Connor, before becoming leader of the Resistance, and Worthington stars as Marcus Wright, a cyborg who believes he is human. The movie also introduces a young version of the first film’s hero, Kyle Reese, played by Anton Yelchin. Set in 2018, Salvation focuses on the war between humanity and Skynet.



It may seem as if Worthington came out of nowhere to become Hollywood’s Next Big Thing, but the actor has been building himself a solid resume for 10 years, acting in movies and television shows in his native Australia before fate landed him a leading role in James Cameron’s ultra-secretive movie.

Cameron picked Worthington after watching his audition tape from a pool of hundreds of actors. “Legend” has it that the director then recommended Worthington to McG for a role in Terminator Salvation.

Curiously, no one could confirm that story – not even Worthington, who met McG a year into filming Avatar.

“I don’t think Jim (James Cameron) recommended me because he was so busy working on Avatar, but I think McG would’ve asked him, ‘What is Sam Worthington like’?” he said, acknowledging, however, that Avatar has opened doors for him in Hollywood.

Perhaps Bale is one of the reasons why Worthington is on Terminator Salvation.

“I did really push for Sam to play Marcus because he’s an excellent actor,” Bale revealed.

No matter who Worthington owes his current “in-demand status” to, it would seem that fortune is on his side – like how it was on the day he decided to accompany his girlfriend for an audition at a drama school to “cheer her on”.

Worthington, then 19, ended up getting in while she didn’t make the cut!

“She ended up dumping me a week later. Well, that was the end of that relationship,” he said wryly.

Back then, Worthington was a bricklayer from Perth who never even thought of becoming an actor.

“I didn’t know what wings on a stage were; I thought Chekhov was on the Star Trek Enterprise – I didn’t realise he wrote plays!” he said, referring to Russian playwright Anton Chekhov.

But he managed to stick to it for three years – he won a scholarship to the John Curtin School of Performings Arts in Fremantle, West Australia, and then studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Sydney. When he graduated in 1998, he went on to build himself an acting career in Australia, snagging roles in movies such as Bootmen (2000) and Gettin’ Square (2003) with Lord Of The Rings alumni David Wenham, as well as television shows such as Love My Way.

He went on to win, in 2004, the Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award for Best Lead Actor for his role in the movie Somersault.

He also had small parts in Hollywood movies such as Hart’s War (2002) and The Great Raid (2005), and was even considered for the role of James Bond before Daniel Craig was picked.

“I’ve always thought you should make as many movies as you can in your home country so when you come over to this field (Hollywood) you have something to offer. When you sit in the same room as James Cameron all starry-eyed – and think this is fantastic and cool – then you’re never gonna get the job, you know?” he said.

He considers his time in Australia “an apprenticeship”, and that his 10 years of experience have enabled him to “play with the big boys”.

Worthington is the latest addition to a long line of Australian actors making it big in Hollywood, joining the likes of actors such as Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Isla Fisher.

“We travel 15 hours to get to (the United States), so we’re not going to waste our time or their time,” he said wryly.

“The background (Australian actors) have is one where we do many jobs – theatre, films and TV – all to pay the bills. We’re pretty rooted to the ground. We know that it’s a job and we’re here to tell good stories,” he added.

Fame may be coming his way, but as far as Worthington’s concerned, he’s not going to let the allure and fanfare of Hollywood get to him.

“All that star stuff is all fluff. It’s tinsel,” he said at one point.

He is just an Aussie bloke who, if he had a choice, would rather “sit and have a beer” than pump iron at the gym to pad muscle for his next role.

“I think the world changes, you don’t change,” he said. “I’m gonna go along for the ride. I can’t really ask anyone for advice about what to do, so I just have to make sure my work stays strong – that’s the reason why I’m here,” he said.

> Terminator Salvation opens today at cinemas nationwide.


Terminator Salvation - Official Trailer [HD]

Worthington speaks

On working with Christian Bale:
“You’re working with probably the most dynamic actor of his generation, so you better have all your homework done,” Sa m Worthington said.

“The guy’s very giving as an actor, and you’re only as good as the person you’re acting opposite and he makes you better.”

About the crazy things he had to do while filming Terminator Salvation:
“I had to roll in the mud naked, got napalmed, shot in the head. There was this explosion, and they said, ‘Can you exit camera left?’ And when the explosion went off I hit the deck and kind of cried. That was a big explosion!”

About John Connor and Marcus Wright:
“(John Connor and Marcus Wright) arelike runaway trains and they’re both ready to smash into each other.

They’re both two of the same halves – or brothers – on this mission with a common belief. To me, the movie’s about three men – Marcus Wright, John Connor and Kyle Reese – and (how) these guys are learning how to become men in these unforgiving times,” he said.

In a strange way, he relates to his character,a man who, before regaining consciousness in a bomb-blasted, Terminator-infested planet Earth in 2018, remembers being put to death in prison.

“I’m an Australian guy who is pretty down-to-earth, who is entering this bizarre world where your heads are on billboards and everyone is get to know who you are. It’s two different worlds clashing there,” he said.

About asking for James Cameron’s blessings:
Worthington actually approached Cameron, who directed The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), to tell him that the producers of Terminator Salvation were considering him for a role.

“And I asked him, ‘So, what do you think?’ and he said: ‘Don’t f*** it up and get back to work on Avatar,’” said Worthington, chuckling.

About Avatar:
“I play a former marine in a wheelchair who goes to another planet to drive remote-controlled bodies (that has) alien DNA mixed with his DNA. He’s a guy who can’t walk in a body that can walk – what are the pressures involved with that? And he’s going to invade these inhabitants on this amazing planet that Jim (Cameron) has created,” he said.

Worthington, who calls James Cameron “one of his best friends” loves working with the director. He had to work with Cameron for six months before getting the role and later spent 13 months filming Avatar. (Apparently, Worthington will be in every scene of the movie.)

“He’s still filming. He’ll keep fi lming till they pull him away!” he said, laughing out loud.

“He loves making movies. He took you to the Titanic, and now he’s going to take you to outerspace,” he said.

Avatar is going to be tentatively released in December this year.

About Clash of the Titans:
Worthington dons a short skirt (okay, a short tunic) to play Greek hero Perseus, who goes on a dangerous mission to defeat the god of the underworld, Hades.

The cast filmed in exotic locations such as Canary Island of Tenerife, and filming will stop in August. (The movie is tentatively going to be released in March next year). They are filming many of the big action scenes first, said Worthington.

“We took on the Medusa, and we took on the witches – in the first two weeks! Then we’re going to take on some scorpions and then the Kraken.

“And then hopefully I’ll get to speak. At the moment it’s a lot of “Arrrggh!”, which isn’t that hard!”