Sam Worthington, star of Clash of the Titans 2 and the upcoming thriller The Debt (in theaters August 31), graces the cover of the September issue of Men’s Health (on newsstands August 9) and opens up about his dramatic transformation from an obscure, homeless Australian to the star of Avatar, the highest-grossing movie of all time.
What it took to find success: “A shitload of hard work. It wasn’t as if I woke up one day and was doing movies.”
On acting being a vocation: “Ultimately that’s what it is. A job. A wonderful job that I’d never put down and I’m extremely lucky to have. But it’s a job.”
His blue-collar upbringing: “I didn’t know any different. And when you’re young, you’re not aware of the sacrifices your parents are making.”
Deciding whether to drive back from the mountains to Sydney for the Avatar audition: “I worked out if it was worth spending the gas money, and decided that it probably was.”
Why he ditched his partying lifestyle: “It didn’t matter if I’d been drinking all night; I’d still be there at 6 a.m. But that doesn’t work now, and it certainly didn’t work on Avatar.”
Getting older: “They say that in your 20s you’re trying to work out the man that you want to be, and in your 30s you discover who he is. And warped and all, beer gut and all, brain damage, and all, you just kind of go, ‘Well, this is it, and I might as well try to polish it a tiny bit.’ I’m stuck with who I am, but I can be man enough to iron out the creases.”
Taking a break from acting: “I haven’t taken a break in four years. It’s been a nomadic existence. Now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of my labor for a little bit…I don’t think I’ll be gone for long.”
Welcoming criticism: “If I’m given a negative review, then I’ll take that and work harder. You just have to get through anything that’s irrelevant or a personal attack, and you might find the gold nugget that can take you to the next level and closer to what you want to achieve in life.”
