London Academy of Media Film TV

EARLY LIFE

Sam Worthington

Sam Worthington was raised in Warnbro, a suburb of Rockingham, Perth, on the west coast of Australia since he was two months old, but was born in Godalming, England on August 2nd, 1976. His father was a power plant employee and his mother was a homemaker. Raised with his sister he was eventually inducted into the John Curtin College of Arts in Fremantle, a city about 19km southwest of Perth. The school provides a range of gifted and talented programs for drama, contemporary dance, ballet, music, music theatre and visual arts. He earned a scholarship at the acclaimed school but dropped out by the age of 17.

LEAVING HOME

Having no idea what he wanted to do, or what direction his life should take, it’s reported his father sent him with a one way ticket to the northern Australian town of Cairns, a distance of about 3,500km, and told him to work his way home. He made his way down to Sydney working on building sites and construction. It was in Sydney that, with his then girlfriend, he auditioned for NIDA (the National Institute of Dramatic Arts), a very prestigious school that has had the likes of Mel Gibson and Cate Blanchett through its training ground. The ironic point is that Sam had attended that day in support of his girlfriend but was subsequently chosen for the three year course. She would end the relationship a week later.

ACTING CAREER

After graduating in 1998 it was two years before he would take a leading role in the Australian film, Bootmen. That led to a nomination for a Best Lead Actor from the AFI (Australian Film Institution), an award he would not win until 2004 for his role in the highly praised film Somersault.

He was one of the actors considered to take the mantle of James Bond in the Casino Royale film from Pierce Brosnan, but lost out to Daniel Craig. It was in 2009 that his rise to international stardom took place. Working with James Cameron on Avatar it was the famed director that would recommend him for the role as the cyborg, Marcus Wright, in Terminator Salvation, a role that stole the movie from co-star Christian Bale as John Connor. But it was Avatar, the revolutionary 3D CGI film, that gave him his leading man status, and made him one of the most sought after actors. Not only did it become the highest grossing film of all time, taking more than a reported $2.8 billion world-wide, it changed the way films are literally seen with its 3D technology.

Sam Worthington and Director James Cameron

In 2010 he starred in the 1981 remake of The Clash of the Titans, a film that had very mixed reviews but still managed to gross over $493,214,888 world-wide and took over $61 million in its first weekend. He followed that with the dramatic romance tale Last Night with Keira Knightely and Eva Mendes and finally The Debt a remake of the 2007 Israeli film of Mossad agents trying to capture and kill a notorious Nazi war criminal.

PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Before being chosen for his role in Avatar, it’s reported that Sam, in an existential moment, sold all of his possessions totalling to $2,000 to live in his car. It’s a nice contrast to the man described as “one of Australia’s most likeable young leading men”, and an actor that has had one of the biggest movies of all time to his curriculum vitae. His films have grossed well over $3 billion, and his total estimated value is around $8 million, but that hasn’t made him immune to failures of relationships with the ending of a two year relationship to Australian actress Maeve Dermody and more recently stylist Natalie Mark after three years. A down to earth, hard working actor, he is often given the title of being the next Mel Gibson or Russell Crowe.

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