True blue Aussie blokes don’t talk much, if they don’t have to. So this interview is a treat. My favorite quote from Avatar‘s block busting star, Sam Worthington, that I can relate to being from Down Under in New Zealand and living in Hollywood more than Aussie and New Zealand actors do all year round is this:
“Risk. Believe and commit and you’ll get whatever you want.”
Jo McKay the head-honcho and editor of InStyle Australia Magazine talks Aussie masculinity in cinematic representation, Sam’s Hollywood negotiating prowess to land lead roles and to still perform professionally after the typical Aussie hang over has worn off…. with Avatar‘s leading Hollywood lad from Perth.
No one is hotter than Sam Worthington at this second in Hollywood. True fact. So this is a hot interview from Worthington’s home journalists.
You often come across as the “tough guy” both in life and in the characters you play…
Yeah, everyone thinks I’ve got a chip on my shoulder and permanent scowl!
But it’s not true?
Not really! I hope not. I hope I don’t walk around with a gloom-and-doom cloud thinking, ‘I’m so intense’. I’m passionate about my work — but I don’t spend all my time reading Tolstoy!
How do you relax?
When I work. I have a lot fun at my job: I think it’s the best job in the world and I relax when I do it.
You’ve been quoted as saying you wouldn’t mind going on Dancing with the Stars? True or false?
I’ve always said that if my career fails, the good thing about being an actor is you can always go on Dancing with the Stars. You’ll never be out of a job!
Are you a good dancer then?
I can cut the rug pretty well. Others would say I look like I’m having an epileptic fit!
For Avatar you and director James Cameron had to convince the studio to cast you in the main role, which took about six months. Was there a feeling a justification or satisfaction at the end of it?
No, not really. It was more like I better ‘man up’ and actually do the job; prove to them I was the right man. It put the pressure on.
You’ve said in the past that acting via hangover was easy – but that’s not how you go about it now?
When I was in my twenties I thought I could do everything like that. It’s baloney. At the time I thought I would try to act with a hangover because I found it was to hard to lie. When I look back on it, it was immature and ridiculous. I wasted a lot of my time and I wasted a lot of my potential. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone – you just need to buckle down and do your damn job correctly.
These days you’ve been known to thoroughly research not only your characters, but the actors you work with. How does that give you an edge?
I think if you are in a sports team, you study other teams, statistics and tactics because it’s your craft. If you are a painter, you study other painters. I’ll watch millions of movies and people acting, because that’s my industry. Out of that you learn where you fit into the pie and what you can offer the industry.
Do you think it’s strange that other people don’t do that kind of research?
Well maybe. My agent said that it’s giving away too much of my secret: that I should hold that back. But I don’t want to be that selfish. If it helps a 12-year-old kid go on to be an actor, to have a great career, because he learnt one thing from dumb old Sam, then hopefully that’s a good thing. I believe you should pass down the knowledge like that.
Are other actors lazy?
No no! Everyone has their own method: I believe it’s all about detail and research. A sportsman will listen to the fans to improve his game, so I’ll listen to anything someone says about me, because hopefully it can help me become a better actor and a better person.
What’s your life motto?
Risk, believe and commit and you’ll get whatever you want.
Finally, as this is a bit of sci-fi flick, choose your favourite sci-fi film: Star Wars or Star Trek?
Neither — I’d choose Avatar. It’s a different experience. Jim [James Cameron] took you to Titanic and now he’s going to take you to outer space.
You often come across as the “tough guy” both in life and in the characters you play…
Yeah, everyone thinks I’ve got a chip on my shoulder and permanent scowl!
But it’s not true?
Not really! I hope not. I hope I don’t walk around with a gloom-and-doom cloud thinking, ‘I’m so intense’. I’m passionate about my work — but I don’t spend all my time reading Tolstoy!
How do you relax?
When I work. I have a lot fun at my job: I think it’s the best job in the world and I relax when I do it.
You’ve been quoted as saying you wouldn’t mind going on Dancing with the Stars? True or false?
I’ve always said that if my career fails, the good thing about being an actor is you can always go on Dancing with the Stars. You’ll never be out of a job!
Are you a good dancer then?
I can cut the rug pretty well. Others would say I look like I’m having an epileptic fit!
For Avatar you and director James Cameron had to convince the studio to cast you in the main role, which took about six months. Was there a feeling a justification or satisfaction at the end of it?
No, not really. It was more like I better ‘man up’ and actually do the job; prove to them I was the right man. It put the pressure on.
You’ve said in the past that acting via hangover was easy – but that’s not how you go about it now?
When I was in my twenties I thought I could do everything like that. It’s baloney. At the time I thought I would try to act with a hangover because I found it was to hard to lie. When I look back on it, it was immature and ridiculous. I wasted a lot of my time and I wasted a lot of my potential. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone – you just need to buckle down and do your damn job correctly.
These days you’ve been known to thoroughly research not only your characters, but the actors you work with. How does that give you an edge?
I think if you are in a sports team, you study other teams, statistics and tactics because it’s your craft. If you are a painter, you study other painters. I’ll watch millions of movies and people acting, because that’s my industry. Out of that you learn where you fit into the pie and what you can offer the industry.
Do you think it’s strange that other people don’t do that kind of research?
Well maybe. My agent said that it’s giving away too much of my secret: that I should hold that back. But I don’t want to be that selfish. If it helps a 12-year-old kid go on to be an actor, to have a great career, because he learnt one thing from dumb old Sam, then hopefully that’s a good thing. I believe you should pass down the knowledge like that.
Are other actors lazy?
No no! Everyone has their own method: I believe it’s all about detail and research. A sportsman will listen to the fans to improve his game, so I’ll listen to anything someone says about me, because hopefully it can help me become a better actor and a better person.
What’s your life motto?
Risk, believe and commit and you’ll get whatever you want.
Finally, as this is a bit of sci-fi flick, choose your favourite sci-fi film: Star Wars or Star Trek?
Neither — I’d choose Avatar. It’s a different experience. Jim [James Cameron] took you to Titanic and now he’s going to take you to outer space.
Love this guy! He’s right up there for me with Hollywood actors Cliff Curtis and Karl Urban. Both real and humble.
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 1.4.2010~
