Are You Sold On Sam Worthington? Hollywood is…
The casting continues for the boy from Down Under
Ever since being cast in the lead role in Avatar Sam Worthington's name has been the source of entertainment news. At first it was monthly, then weekly and now you can hardly go a day without a Sam Worthington casting rumor, which is almost guaranteed to be followed up by a casting confirmation.
Following his Avatar casting he moved into a supporting role in Terminator Salvation followed by the lead role in the Clash of the Titans remake. At one point he replaced Tom Cruise in The Tourist opposite Charlize Theron only to drop out and be replaced by Johnny Depp (not bad company there). He's said to be starring in the remake of the Danish thriller, The Candidate at Summit Entertainment, he's signed on to play the lead role in Alex Proyas's Dracula Year Zero and today it was announced he'll star in the New York detective story The Fields with Michael Mann's daughter, Ami Canaan Mann, directing. That's a lot of work if you ask me.
He's also got Last Night with Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes, as well as The Debt directed by John Madden, starring Helen Mirren in the can. Unfortunately the fate of those films is up in the air following Miramax's decision to close up shop. So who knows when they'll see the light of day.
Personally, I see promise. He had me convinced in Avatar and I thought he gave the best performance in Terminator Salvation, which isn't saying much, but I did like him in the film so I guess it's saying something. I'm anxious to see Clash of the Titans (preferably in 2D) and a Proyas-directed Dracula feature sounds tasty. But will Worthington come out of this a big star or is he just the hot thing at the moment?
What are your thoughts? Do you see him rising to the tops for years to come? He's definitely got the presence for both action and drama so there could be a lot of room to grow and plenty of genres to explore for him. On top of all that, I've heard he's a pretty good guy, never a bad thing when working in movies, but always a hard quality to maintain.
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I was actually very impressed with him in Terminator Salvation and predicted that he would be the next big actor in hollywood. However, he was terrible in Avatar which was a lead role that had alot of potential.
Judging someone on two roles is difficult, especially when one is good and the other isn't. But to answer your question, no I am not sold on him.
hes not the new leo dicaprio, that im sure of
I also found his performance more impressive in Terminator Salvation than Avatar, but yeah, I wouldn't call him the next Leo. He's still a pretty solid actor, hopefully he gets better as it all goes along.
Yeah, I don't think people who preferred him in Terminator are really in the minority. But I guess the mediocre writing in Avatar may have hampered his performance. He is likable but nowhere as charismatic as Leo so I don't know what'll happen to him.
I haven't seen the Terminator, but he was average in Avatar.
loved sam in avatar.
http://www.twitter.com/worthingtonfan
In Avatar he really couldn't do much. Bad writing will always hamper an actor. Look at Ewan MacGregor and Liam Nesson in Star Wars. Two fine actors, crappy writing, bad end result for them. I think he is on his way to a long-term A-lister as long as he mixes up and don't do just action films like Ben Affleck did when he first hit it big. Matt Damon went for quality and is today one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. Affleck destroyed his career with Gigli and other shite films. And beside, having a #1 film under your belt isn't that bad if you dare to do difficult roles as DiCaprio did after Titanic. But, no, as other has said, he is not near DiCaprio.
matt damon has had an endless stream of flops. can i say The Informant?
http://www.twitter.com/worthingtonfan
Well i really love Matt Damen, but i think Ben has found an other Way… Didn´t he direct "Gone Baby gone" and "The town"? Did you see them?
-sorry for the bad english-
Sam Worthington was great in Terminator Salvation. Its the only reason I enjoyed the film. As for Avatar, my least favorite thing of the whole movie was Sam's performance. He had the presence of a peanut-butter and jelly sandwich and the charisma of a brass doorknob.
I, however, expect a great performance in Clash of the Titans and in Dracula Year Zero (horrible name), but I am not sold on the guy just yet.
The best male performance in Avatar was Giovani Ribisi… By the way, Giovani Ribisi has been making excellent roles for years… why hasn't he been given any recognition?
he's a nice actor and i prefer him to Ryan Reynolds for example.He may be the big action actor but i don't see him as great actor!
I've followed Sam's career for a while. I think people should go out and rent his other films. Once they do, they'll see he has the potential of reaching the heights of a Leo DiCaprio.
I've only seen him in Avatar, and his performance in this was not very impressive. But who knows.
Did we see the same movie?
Come on guys, fill in the lead role of Avatar with ANY actor and they could not have made it better. Let's ease up a bit on that one. Worthington has potential, let's see where he goes before we start tearing him down.
look at all the castings directors posting here, you comparing someone with di-crap-rio titanic wasnt a good movie, it was a weepy that women watched over and over, this guy hung with the best in hollywood in terminator far better than that moron from titanic
Guys when it comes down to it, Sam is the new Tom Cruise without the talent
I am convinced that this guy will become a force in the industry. As limited as Avatar's script was, he was able to humanize the character, particularly in the "recording" scenes, which blew me away. I can tell that there is a lot of talent there that hasn't been exposed yet, but if he continues to get great roles, then he will continue to climb the ladder. Some of the names he's working with (listed in the article) sound impressive to say the least.
I for one didn't mind his work in Avatar. I like that he made the choice to play him as a plain and simple grunt because that's who Jake was. Maybe not a character that's the most likable but I thought it was a good way to portray it.
@Colin: agree whole heartedly
I was never sold on Dicaprio, but I am on Sam Worthington.
At least Sam Worthington has passed puberty. Now Taylor Lautner – way too early for so much hype and so many roles.
He was great in T4, and even better in Avatar. I expect a lot from him.
He always do well on the roles he plays.. People are just expecting the flamboyant and melodramatic acting that is the norm these days.
He actually dissolves into the role. Wait till he get a a role that is supposed to be flamboyant and melodramatic.
@corwin: i hope ! Worthington is 32/33 years old! Lautner only is 17/18
He needs to work on his American accent. As an Aussie hearing him fall in and out of both accents in Avatar was very distracting. Not sure if it was noticeable to American ears but I sure heard it.
Sam is definitely for real. He stole T4 from an actor many consider one of the best, and he was great in Avatar. His earlier work is excellent–check out his rock star Hamlet if you don't believe me–and he's obviously got a lot of people in Hollywood dying to make movies with him. If he chooses wisely (and it certainly appears he has so far) he'll be big for years to come.
God no. This guy is just plain awful in Terminator Salvation… I don't know what particular brand of kool-aid people are drinking in regards to that performance.
And he's a monotonous bore in Avatar. And in Getting Square as well.
It's shameful that he's getting the starring role in all these tentpole films when greater actors are sidelined. Hopefully his career goes the way of Orlando Bloom's. He's about as talented.
i feel like this guy was shoved down everybodys throat by hollywood, but thats just me! besides i didnt find him that impressive after all, there are australian actors in tv shows able to do better american accent than this guy, see (Craig horner).
I think it's way too soon for everybody to be talking about him.
I mean yes he did catch my eye in Terminator Salvation and he was good and I think the only reason there's all this talk about him is because Avatar is the biggest film of all time.
If that hadn't happened Sam Worthington wouldn't really be anything. I don't think he's a truly great actor he's good but I think he's just been lucky to star in commercially appealing films. And very good ones.
You're judging him based on 2 Hollywood movies, not on his previous work in Australia. I think the lower-budget work allows him to show his talent better – specials effects can swallow an actor up (so can Hollywood, for that matter), and Terminator and Avatar are no exception. Instead of judging him based on his American films, maybe look further back into his career? Open your mind a little? Btw, I think he did a fantastic job in Avatar, because he was exactly as the character was expected to be. His accent needs work, but the guy has talent. And good looks, I might add!
I can't help but think Dwayne Johnson would be getting some of these roles if he wasn't making a new family comedy every other month.
Worthington is the new action star we thought we would get with guys like Johnson and Diesel, but I think Worthington is actually going to deliver.
I really liked Worthington in Terminator, actually, and that's saying something. I did not have any complaints about Avatar, aside from the slippery accent. But I agree with some of the other commentators who have said that he has done some really good work in his Australian films. I think he does have potential, and right now, we just don't have enough to go on. And besides, who CARES if he goes on to be the next DiCaprio or whatever? He's satisfying for now (especially to the ladies, I might add).
If only he'd show his abs, then he'd be the next DiCaprio and Cruise. Seriously, what's he hiding?
To be honest, even after "Avatar" I have trouble picturing what he looks like… so he's yet to make much of an impression on me.
OK in Terminator Salvation (and hampered by Mc-bloomin'-G) but acted off the screen by Zoe Saldana in Avatar, so if I only knew him from his Hollywood movies I wouldn't be entirely convinced. However, he was very good in Somersault, Rogue (Crocodile), and my personal all-time favourite guilty-pleasure tapdancing film, Bootmen!! Every movie generation needs a rock hard Aussie (even if he was born just up the road from me in Surrey!) and since Russell Crowe's evidently giving up the fight against middle-aged spread he may well be it. I look forward to CotT with interest.
let's put it this way, he's the star of the biggest movie of all time, and yet I bet maybe 1 out 20 people know his name or anything else about him.
The fact he's maintaining some anonymity still with his name (re: post #34) is amazing and good for him. He's a character actor when it comes down to it, though his PR and/or Hollywood is billing him as the next action thing. But his career shows a wide spread of genres (and even a gay kiss; he's fearless) so he's obviously interested in more than running around being brawny. He's a great 'successor' to Russell Crowe, who is also a fantastic character actor. Sam's here to stay.
CARISMA!!!!!! Do you know this word?? ;) I think an actor has to get a sort of feeling…He is great!!! I saw him on Somersault, Blue Pole (short-movie) and Terminator. He got me impressed!!!!!! He's so emotional and so natural….Thank you Sam!!!!! By the way…..I love Dicaprio too ;)
actually i retract my comment he isnt Tom Cruise without the talent, he's a poor man's Christian Bale
@toto: Obviously you have not seen him in Macbeth, very flamboyant and well acted! Love him in anything.
I just hope it overshadows that horrific lovefest with Shia LeBeouf (sp?).
I only wish that Depp would be in The Tourist along with Theron, but she's out and Jolie is in. Don't think i want to see it anymore.
Sam Worthington has 10 years worth of experience playing character
roles in film, theater and tv in Australia. He won a Best Actor AFI award
for Somersault with Abbie Cornish, he's in good company with Geoffrey
Rush, Russel Crowe, Guy Pearce and Eric Bana as previous winners.
I find it incredibly condescending that because "Americans" don't
know about his previous work they assume that somehow it's all luck on his part
being signed for these roles and not based on his talent.
He was the best thing in TS, stealing the movie from Bale.
As for Avatar, he gave a very subtle nuanced performance exactly as
James Cameron wanted and not some over the top Gung ho marine.
He's a fine actor and I think the best is yet to come.
@DianeN: Do you mean MacBeth?
@Monica:
Yeah, obviously my brain wasn't engaged when writing. Though I'd pay big bucks to see Sam do Hamlet, rock star or not!
Yep, he has the potential and all will depend on the roles he takes in the future. He has experience, a solid education and incredible charisma.I hope he chooses his roles wisely.
I don't expect him to be the next Leo, I mean, I love Leo, but definitely there is room for a Sam Worthington, he doesn't need to be the next anybody.
I can't wait to see him in Dracula, I hope he will be a mean, bloody, cruel Dracula, like all vampires should be.