Andrew Garfield, who appeared with Sam Worthington in “Under the Banner of Heaven,” says he’s noticed a change in the actor. “He’s become looser and more experimental. Sam’s got this great quality where there’s a lot of depth there.”
is going to tear his skin off. He has this tic. When he gets nervous, his right hand snakes under his black T-shirt and starts to gnaw at his shoulder. And what’s got him scratching so intensely is an easy question: “It’s too hard to answer these questions, mate,” Worthington says in his thick Aussie accent.
He would start drinking in the morning. “Nine out of 10 people couldn’t tell,” Worthington says. “They could probably smell it on me, but when they looked at me, they couldn’t tell. I was still doing my job — I just don’t think I was doing it very well.” Alcohol made Worthington erratic, jeopardized his career, and nearly ended his relationship. It could have cost him his life.
The Worthington who sits before me is handsome and slightly grizzled, with flecks of gray peppered throughout his short brown hair. He has the hint of a sunburn. In the 13 years between installments in the “Avatar” franchise, he got married and had three sons. Nearly everything, he says, revolves around them, even the decision to relocate from Australia to New York City, where stricter laws about paparazzi mean he can better protect his children’s privacy.
Before landing “Avatar,” Worthington was a finalist for the role of James Bond in “Casino Royale.” He flew to London, was filmed in the tuxedo and was fussed over by Barbara Broccoli, the producer of the 007 franchise, who went to his hotel room before the screen test to personally cut his hair to match her vision of the super spy.
What he found was that those action movies didn’t really require much acting. Their directors were consumed with getting the big effects shots right, and the scripts were often being rewritten on the fly. There wasn’t much time to get into Perseus’ backstory, for instance, which left Worthington feeling adrift on set.
Looking back, he admits he should have at least talked to the director first. “I could have handled things differently, instead of showing up on the first day with a big belly,” he says. Instead, his bizarre response vaulted him into contention alongside much better-known actors. The fuck-you attitude that Cameron found so arresting propelled Worthington through a monthslong audition process.
Despite the studio’s reservations about handing the central role in a $237 million film to an unknown, Worthington got the part. But telling him the good news was challenging. “It took us several days to reach him because he was somewhere on a mountaintop without a phone,” says Jon Landau, the producer of “Avatar.” “That’s who Sam is.”
In response, he drank even more heavily. Some of that impulse, he suggests, was cultural. “In Australia it’s ingrained in the society,” Worthington says. “We don’t necessarily talk about AA and things like that. You don’t recognize it’s an illness, and you don’t understand that some people are just wired differently.”
“If I can’t bring anything to it, I’m not going to go and be involved in it,” he says. “I don’t want to do that again. I don’t want to just be the action figure standing in the front. And that’s OK. It takes a lot to understand what you do want from this industry.” It doesn’t mean that Worthington is saying no to Hollywood epics. In fact, some of his upcoming projects are among the most ambitious ever attempted by the movie business. He’s set to appear in the next four “Avatar” films, which are slated to come out between now and 2027. When not in Pandora, Worthington will co-star in Kevin Costner’s “Horizon,” a planned quartet of films that unfold in the West before and after the Civil War.
“I thought, ‘This guy is a surfer. I’m sure he’s been held down in the washing machine and had to hold his breath for a minute until he could get out of turbulence,’” Cameron says. “And he said, ‘No, surfing is about staying Shooting on “Avatar: The Way of Water” started in 2017, and much of filming took place in an enormous tank — 120 feet long, 60 feet wide and 30 feet deep — that was constructed in Manhattan Beach for the production.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
James Cameron Has a Script for ‘Avatar 1.5’ and a Plan for ‘Avatar 5’As the hotly-anticipated ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ approaches release, new details about the fifth—yes, fifth—film and an “amazing” script for ‘Avatar 1.5’ emerge.
Read more »
'Avatar: The Way of Water': James Cameron, Zoe Saldaña and Sam Worthington on Why They Returned to PandoraJames Cameron, Zoe Saldaña, and Sam Worthington spoke about their return to Pandora in AvatarTheWayOfWater during the film's press conference.
Read more »
Avatar 2 Review: The Way of Water Is an Epic, Wonderful MovieJames Cameron co-writes and directs the sequel to 2009's Avatar starring Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana.
Read more »
East Coast breakfast company joins Worthington pizzeriaThe Big Apple Breakfast Co. has opened inside Worthington Pizza Primo and is open from 7 to 11 a.m. weekdays, separate from the pizzeria's hours.
Read more »
Nolan to debut ‘Oppenheimer’ IMAX trailer with ‘Avatar 2′ | amNewYorkChristopher Nolan is ready to show the world the first full-length trailer for his new epic 'Oppenheimer' and he's doing so in the splashiest way possible: With an exclusive IMAX spot in front of 'Avatar: The Way of Water.'
Read more »
All eyes on Avatar to save struggling box office'Avatar: The Way of Water' is expected to dominate this week's box office, and it’s under “tremendous pressure” to help boost late-year moviegoing.
Read more »