Sam Worthington
| Sam Worthington | |
|---|---|
 Worthington at the Tropfest 2013 in Sydney, 17 February 2013 |
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| Born | Samuel Henry John Worthington 2 August 1976 Godalming, Surrey, England, UK |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Partner(s) | Maeve Dermody (2005–2008)[1] Natalie Mark (2008–2011)[2] |
Samuel Henry John "Sam" Worthington[3] (born 2 August 1976) is an Australian actor, best known for the portrayals of Jake Sully in Avatar, Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation and Perseus in Clash of the Titans and its sequel, Wrath of the Titans, and Alex Mason in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops and its sequel Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
In 2004, Worthington received Australia's highest film award for his lead performance in Somersault. He performed predominantly in leading roles in a variety of low-budget films before moving to major studio films, ranging from romantic drama and comedy-drama to science fiction and action.
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Early life [edit]
Worthington was born to English parents in Godalming, Surrey, in southeastern England, and moved to Perth, Western Australia[4] when he was six months old. He grew up in Warnbro, a suburb of Rockingham. His mother, Jeanne J. (née Martyn), a homemaker, raised him and his sister Lucinda, and his father, Ronald W. Worthington, was a power plant employee.[4] He attended John Curtin College of the Arts, a school specialising in the dramatic arts, located in Fremantle, Western Australia, where he studied drama but failed to graduate and dropped out.[citation needed] His father gave him $400 and sent him on a one-way trip to Cairns, Queensland, and told him to "work his way home".[5] He began working on construction and odd jobs, eventually settling in Sydney, New South Wales.[6] At 19, he worked as a bricklayer, when he auditioned for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and was accepted with a scholarship.[7]
Career [edit]
2004–08 [edit]
Worthington had a major role in Somersault (2004) and played the lead in a modern Australian retelling of Macbeth (2006). He won the AFI Award for Best Lead Actor for his role in Somersault. He was well known in Australia for his role as Howard in the acclaimed Australian TV series Love My Way, in which he played the main love interest of the female lead.
Worthington's international film career began with a series of small roles in Hollywood production The Great Raid (2005), which was filmed in Australia. He auditioned for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale but lost the role to Daniel Craig.[8] He starred in the Australian creature-feature film Rogue (2007), as a man named Neil, which gained a 100% fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes.[9]
2009–present [edit]
In Terminator Salvation, Worthington plays cyborg Marcus Wright who assists the humans despite their suspicions of him.
Shot prior to the release of Terminator Salvation, the James Cameron-directed science-fiction film Avatar was Worthington's next project. In the film, he played Jake Sully, a paraplegic US Marine who, assigned to control an alien body called an avatar through a neural link, finds himself at the center of a war between his own species and the indigenous Na'vi people of the moon Pandora. The film went on to become the highest-grossing film of all time, grossing more than US$2.730 billion ($2.9 billion adjusted for inflation) in box-office receipts worldwide.[10] In November 2010, Worthington told GQ Australia[11] that he went to audition, but wasn't told what it was for and got annoyed. So he did his part, left, forgot about it — and was called back. "I was a bit pissed off, and I think that came across," he says. "I think Jim saw a spark and liked it because that's Sully's character — a guy who doesn't like to be bullied and a guy who just wants to set things right."[12]
He provided voice work for Captain Alex Mason, the protagonist character in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops. Some gamers criticised Worthington's inability to mask his British Australian accent, as in Avatar.[13] In November 2010 The Hollywood Reporter named Worthington as one of the young male actors who are "pushing – or being pushed" into taking over Hollywood as the new "A-List".[14]
He was selected as one of the entrants to the Who's Who in Australia 2011 edition.[15]
In November 2011, Worthington along with Jonah Hill and Dwight Howard starred in commercials for the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.[16]
In 2012, Worthington starred in the sequel to Clash of the Titans, called Wrath of the Titans, alongside Liam Neeson. As in the first film, Worthington played the demigod and son of Zeus, Perseus. He also reprised his role as Alex Mason in Call of Duty: Black Ops II.
Personal life [edit]
Worthington has said that when he was about 30, he sold most of his possessions and ended up with around $2,000 to his name. He says he bought a car with the proceeds and was living in it before he successfully auditioned for his role in Avatar.[17] He then found a place to live.[18]
Filmography [edit]
Films [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Bootmen | Mitchell Okden | |
| 2001 | A Matter of Life | Our Hero | short film |
| 2002 | Hart's War | Cpl. B.J. "Depot" Guidry | |
| 2002 | Dirty Deeds | Darcy | |
| 2003 | Gettin' Square | Barry "Wattsy" Wirth | |
| 2004 | Somersault | Joe | |
| 2004 | Thunderstruck | Ronnie | |
| 2004 | Blue Poles | Miles | Short |
| 2005 | The Great Raid | Pfc. Lucas | |
| 2005 | Fink! | Able | |
| 2006 | Macbeth | Macbeth | |
| 2007 | Rogue | Neil | |
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation | Marcus Wright | |
| 2009 | Avatar | Jake Sully/Tom Sully | |
| 2010 | Clash of the Titans | Perseus | |
| 2010 | Last Night | Michael Reed | |
| 2010 | Love & Distrust | Miles | Segment: Blue Poles by Darcy Yuille |
| 2011 | The Debt | Young David | |
| 2011 | Texas Killing Fields | Detective Mike Sounder | |
| 2012 | Man on a Ledge | Nick Cassidy | |
| 2012 | Wrath of the Titans | Perseus | |
| 2013 | Drift | JB | |
| 2014 | Ten | Monster |
Television [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | JAG | Dunsmore | Episode: "Boomerang: Part 1" |
| 2000 | Water Rats | Phillip Champion | Episode: "Able to Leap Tall Buildings" |
| 2000 | Blue Heelers | Shane Donovan | Episode: "Bloodlines" |
| 2004 | Love My Way | Howard Light | 10 episodes |
| 2005 | The Surgeon | Dr. Sam Dash | 8 episodes |
| 2006 | Two Twisted | Gus Rogers | Episode: "Delivery Man" |
Video games [edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Call of Duty: Black Ops | Alex Mason | |
| 2011 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | The Vet | Trailer |
| 2012 | Call of Duty: Black Ops II | Alex Mason |
Writer [edit]
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Enzo |
Awards and nominations [edit]
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | AFI Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | Bootmen | Won |
| 2002 | FCCA Award | Best Supporting Actor – Male | Dirty Deeds | Won |
| 2004 | AFI Award | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Somersault | Won |
| 2004 | FCCA Award | Best Actor – Male | Somersault | Won[19] |
| 2004 | IF Award | Best Actor | Somersault | Won |
| 2009 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Fresh Face Male | Terminator Salvation | Won |
| 2009 | Australians in Film Breakthrough Award | Australians in Film[20] | Avatar | |
| 2010 | Saturn Award | Best Actor | Avatar | Won |
| 2010 | International Award | Best Actor | Avatar | Won |
| 2010 | Empire Award | Best Actor | Avatar | Won |
| 2010 | Giffoni Award | Won | ||
| 2010 | Blimp Award | Cutest Couple (shared with Zoe Saldana) | Avatar | Won |
| 2010 | MTV Movie Award | Best Fight (shared with Stephen Lang) | Avatar | Won |
| 2010 | MTV Movie Award | Best Kiss (shared with Zoe Saldana) | Avatar | Won |
| 2010 | ShoWest Award | Male Star of the Year | Won | |
| 2010 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie: Fight (shared with Stephen Lang) | Avatar | Won |
| 2010 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Actor: Sci-Fi | Avatar | Won |
References [edit]
- ^ "Maeve Dermody Gets All the Hot Boys". Au.lifestyle.yahoo.com. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ "Sam Worthington's girlfriend Natalie Mark shones at Inside Flm Awards". The Daily Telegraph. UK. 18 November 2009. Retrieved 12 September 2010.
- ^ "Incident 123082579". Atlanta, Georgia, Police Department via E! Online. November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 5, 2012.
- ^ a b "Avatar first reviews, Sam Worthington next Hollywood star in the making". The Daily Telegraph. 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
- ^ Ellen tv interview 2012
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Sam Worthington Interview for Terminator". Screencrave.com. 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ "Bard arse". The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 September 2006.
- ^ "Rogue". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2011-11-02.
- ^ "Worldwide Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
- ^ "Sam Worthington". GQ.
- ^ [2], GQ Australia November 2010, Sam Worthington
- ^ "How an Australian Man Nearly Ruined Black Ops for Me".
- ^ {{cite news|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/hollywoods-list-redefined-44771%7Ctitle=Hollywood's A-List Redefined|first2=Lauren|lasat2= Schutte|first=Emily|last= Blank|publisher=(slide 9 of 10 in slideshow) The Hollywood Reporter|accessdate=26 June 2012
- ^ "Who's Who pack now boasts Siddle, Hamish and Andy and the Masterchef judges". heraldsun.com.au. 9 December 2010.
- ^ Crecente, Brian (2011-11-04). "Jonah Hill, Sam Worthington Star in This Live Action Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Ad". Kotaku.
- ^ Worthington on Jay Leno
- ^ Worthington talks about living inside a car
- ^ http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=9613&s=Features
- ^ "Australians in Film Breakthrough Awards". Australians in Film.
External links [edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sam Worthington |
- Sam Worthington at the Internet Movie Database
- ArtistDirect.com Video Interview – Clash Of the Titans
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- 1976 births
- Australian film actors
- Australian television actors
- Australian people of English descent
- English emigrants to Australia
- People educated at the National Institute of Dramatic Art
- Living people
- Naturalised citizens of Australia
- People educated at John Curtin College of the Arts
- People from Godalming
- People from Perth, Western Australia
- English video game actors
