Sam Worthington
Sam Worthington | |
|---|---|
 Worthington in Manhattan, 4 April 2010 | |
| Born | Samuel Henry J. Worthington[1] |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2000–present |
| Partner(s) | Maeve Dermody (2005–2008)[2] Natalie Mark (2008–2011)[3] |
Samuel Henry J. "Sam" Worthington (born 2 August 1976) is a British-born Australian actor. After almost a decade of roles in Australian TV shows and films, Worthington gained Hollywood's attention by playing the role of Marcus Wright in Terminator Salvation (2009), the lead role as Jake Sully in the James Cameron-directed film Avatar (2009), Perseus in the movie Clash of the Titans (2010) and Captain Alex Mason in the 2010 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops.
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 transitioning to major studio films, ranging from romantic drama and comedy-drama to science fiction and action.
He was selected as one of the entrants to the Who's Who in Australia 2011 edition.[4]
Early life
Sam Worthington was born in Godalming, Surrey, in southeastern England, and moved to Perth, Western Australia[5] when he was six years old. He grew up in Warnbro, a suburb of Rockingham. His father, Ronald, was a power plant employee while his mother, a homemaker, raised him and his sister.[5] He attended John Curtin College of the Arts, a school specialising in the dramatic arts located in Fremantle, Western Australia. His father also sent him on a one-way trip to Cairns on the northeast coast of Australia and told him to "work his way home". He began working on construction and odd jobs, eventually settling in Sydney.[6] At 19, he worked as a bricklayer when he auditioned for the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) and was accepted with scholarship.[7]
Career
2000–03
In 2000, Worthington made his film debut in the Australian film Bootmen. He was featured in a leading role as Mitchell Okden. Worthington was nominated for Best Lead Actor by the Australian Film Institute (AFI) for his performance. The same year, he guest starred in television series: JAG, Water Rats and Blue Heelers.
Worthington went on to act in a number of Australian movies and TV series; including leading roles in Dirty Deeds (2002) and Gettin' Square (2003). He also appeared in Hart's War (2002). Dirty Deeds was a critical and financial success, earning A$5,034,142 at the box office in Australia.
2004–08
Worthington played the lead characters in Somersault (2004) and in a modern Australian retelling of Macbeth (2006). Worthington won the AFI Award for Best Lead Actor for his role in Somersault. He is well known in Australia for his role as Howard in the acclaimed Australian TV series Love My Way, where 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 tested for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale but lost the role to Daniel Craig.[8]
2009–present
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 ($3.9 billion) in box-office receipts worldwide.[9]
Later in 2010, Worthington is set to star in The Debt, a remake of the 2007 Israeli film of the same name. He also signed to appear in The Fields alongside Chloe Moretz,[10] and The Candidate, also to be released in 2010, and Dracula Year Zero in 2011.[11]
Worthington was the voice actor for Captain Alex Mason in Call of Duty: Black Ops.[12]
Personal life
Worthington says that when he was about 30, he sold most of his possessions and ended up with around $2000 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.[13] He then found a place to live.[14]
Filmography
Actor
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Bootmen | Mitchell Okden | Nominated — Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role |
| 2001 | A Matter of Life | Our Hero | Short film |
| 2002 | Hart's War | Cpl. B.J. "Depot" Guidry | |
| 2002 | Dirty Deeds | Darcy | Nominated — Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actor – Male |
| 2003 | Gettin' Square | Barry "Wattsy" Wirth | |
| 2004 | Somersault | Joe | Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Nominated — Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor – Male Nominated — Inside Film Award for Best Actor |
| 2004 | Thunderstruck | Ronnie | |
| 2004 | Blue Poles | Miles | Short film |
| 2005 | The Great Raid | Pfc. Lucas | |
| 2005 | Fink! | Able | |
| 2006 | A Fairytale of the City | The Artist | Short film |
| 2006 | Macbeth | Macbeth | |
| 2007 | Rogue | Neil | |
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation | Marcus Wright | Nominated — Scream Award Breakout Performance - Male Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Best Fresh Face Male |
| 2009 | Avatar | Jake Sully and Tom Sully | 2010 Teen Choice Award for Best Sci-Fi Actor Saturn Award for Best Actor Nominated — 2010 Teen Choice Award for Best Fight Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actor Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Fight (shared with Stephen Lang) Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (shared with Zoe Saldana) |
| 2010 | Clash of the Titans | Perseus | Nominated — 2010 Teen Choice Award for Best Fantasy Actor |
| 2010 | Last Night | Michael Reed | |
| 2010 | Call of Duty: Black Ops | Alex Mason | video game (voice only) |
| 2011 | The Debt | Young David | |
| 2011 | The Fields | Jake Souder | |
| 2011 | Man on a Ledge | Nick Cassidy | |
| 2011 | Drift | Surfer | "pre-production" |
| 2012 | Wrath of the Titans | Perseus | pre-production |
| 2014 | Avatar 2 | Jake Sully | pre-production |
| 2015 | Avatar 3 | Jake Sully | pre-production |
| 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 | 2004–2005 (10 episodes) |
| 2005 | The Surgeon | Dr. Sam Dash | 2005 (8 episodes) |
| 2006 | Two Twisted | Gus Rogers | Episode: "Delivery Man" |
| 2012 | The Grass Crown | Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus | In-production |
Writer credits
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Enzo |
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Call of Duty: Black Ops | Captain Alex Mason | Nominated- Spike Video Game Awards for the Best Performance by a Human Male |
References
- ^ "Diario de Yucatán". Yucatan.com.mx. 2010-01-26. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
- ^ Post a commentDo you have a Yahoo! ID? Sign in (2009-12-10). "Maeve Dermody Gets All the Hot Boys – Who Magazine – Yahoo!7 Lifestyle". Au.lifestyle.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
{{cite web}}: Text "Sign up" ignored (help) - ^ "Sam Worthington's girlfriend Natalie Mark shones at Inside Flm Awards". The Daily Telegraph. 2009-11-18. Retrieved 2010-09-12.
- ^ "Who's Who pack now boasts Siddle, Hamish and Andy and the Masterchef judges". heraldsun.com.au. 9 December 2010.
- ^ a b "Avatar first reviews, Sam Worthington next Hollywood star in the making". The Daily Telegraph. 2009-12-11. Retrieved 2009-12-12.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ "Sam Worthington Interview for Terminator". Screencrave.com. 2009-05-21. Retrieved 2010-05-30.
- ^ http://www.smh.com.au/news/arts/bard-arse/2006/09/13/1157827019501.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
- ^ "Worldwide Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-06-27.
- ^ Jeffrey Dean Morgan set for 'Fields'.
- ^ "Big Time Star Sam Worthington Heads to Transylvania for 'Year Zero'".
- ^ DERRIK J. LANG (October 25, 2010). "`Call of Duty: Black Ops' expands protagonist role". Yahoo. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
- ^ Worthington on Jay Leno
- ^ Worthington talks about living inside a car
External links
- 1976 births
- Actors from Western Australia
- Australian expatriate actors in the United States
- Australian film actors
- Australian people of English descent
- English immigrants to Australia
- Former students of the National Institute of Dramatic Art
- Living people
- Naturalised citizens of Australia
- People from Godalming
- People from Perth, Western Australia