LOS ANGELES -- Whether you're man or machine, it's nice to have a back-up.
And so it is with Sam Worthington, the Perth, Australia, native who is accelerating towards super-stardom thanks to high-profile roles in Terminator Salvation, Clash of the Titans and James Cameron's hungrily anticipated Avatar.
And in case Hollywood doesn't pan out? "I can always go back to being a bricklayer," the tough, blunt 32-year-old remarks with a smile.
Maybe, but unlikely. Odds are Worthington will soon have to relinquish his title as the biggest star nobody has heard of.
The (mostly) Arnold Schwarzenegger-free Terminator Salvation (which opened Wednesday) introduces Worthington as Marcus Wright, a convicted murderer sentenced to death who wakes up in the post-apocalyptic landscape of 2018 transformed into a half-human, half-terminator.
"To be honest, I looked at him as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. That was always stuck in my head. This person wakes up in another world and tries to find himself as they go on this yellow brick road. They find the heart, the brain, the sensitivity. And you get to Skynet, which is Oz, to ask the question, 'Why am I not dead?' That's how I looked at it."
McG's reaction to Worthington's, shall we say, unique interpretation of his character and the story? "He thinks I'm mad as a hatter."
Which raises the obvious question: Just how did an unknown actor from Down Under land such a prominent gig opposite Christian Bale in a $150-million summer blockbuster? References.
At the time director McG was casting, Worthington was shooting Avatar, Cameron's first film since Titanic. Cameron, of course, created the Terminator franchise and recommended Worthington.
Cameron's advice to his leading man? "He told me, 'Just don't f--- it up.' That was about it. And then he went back to filming Avatar. Jim said he wants to look at it as a fan."
With the 3-D Avatar due in December, Worthington is already three weeks into filming the lavish remake of 1981's Clash of the Titans, in which he stars as hero Perseus opposite Liam Neeson's Zeus and Ralph Fiennes' Hades; it will be out in April. By then he may have also been seen in the thriller The Debt opposite Helen Mirren and the romantic drama Last Night with Keira Knightley.
"If this happened when I was 22, it could be a bit overwhelming," he says of the prospect of pending fame. "But I'm 32. I know who I am, so I'm just going to enjoy the ride. As long as it doesn't affect my work, and I keep producing work of a certain quality then I'm okay."
Besides which, he adds, he's hardly an overnight sensation, having performed on stage and on screen in Australia for the past decade -- somewhat unintentionally, as it turns out.
"I was a bricklayer. I built houses and never wanted to act. When I was 19, I met a young girl who auditioned for the premiere drama school. I auditioned with her for moral support, to cheer her along. I got in and she didn't. And she dumped me a week later."
These days, Worthington's lifestyle is admittedly nomadic, based neither in Australia nor Los Angeles. "I go where the work is. I've got two bags. I've got a bag of books and a bag of clothes because I sold everything before I went and did Avatar, and for the last four years, I've been going back to back to back on jobs. So at the moment, I'm living in a hotel up the road with me mates."
Just what are the books he's carrying? "Just lots of books that inspire me and that I've read over the years.
"I do an extraordinary job, so I try to live an ordinary life. I go home and wash and cook and do bulls--- and watch TV."
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001U0HBPG/almosthuman
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