James Cameron made history with Avatar but it was the collective efforts of his cast that made his vision come true. Sam Worthington’s role as Jake Sully was transgressive in its potential for creating a legacy and the director was the first to see that in the actor. Then a relatively unknown actor, Avatar brought fame and gave a sense of direction and purpose to its lead and went on to become the face of Cameron’s most ambitious project to date.
As the sequel film makes headway in its journey to global box-office domination, the director recalls what made him choose Sam Worthington among the vast array of actors available to him at the time.
James Cameron Recalls Sam Worthington’s Disarming Charm
Aliens, Titanic, and The Terminator director, James Cameron has curated a reputation in Hollywood for being one of the greats and it was that cumulated rapport that earned him en masse moviegoers for each of his successively successful launches since the late 80s. But it isn’t simply brilliant screenplays and extraordinary directorial prowess that earns a film its place among blockbusters. The actors and their onscreen presence can make or break a film just as easily as the script’s execution.
When James Cameron had begun his casting for Avatar in 2007, a roster of great names had themselves lined up for a role in the director extraordinaire’s set. But it was Sam Worthington who won Cameron over. The latter later reveals what it was that made him go with the underdog contender in the end.
“It was a bit daunting because he had an accent like Crocodile Dundee. I saw a lot of actors, names you’d be quite impressed by. But Sam was the guy who made me want to follow him into battle. He was the guy who made me want to go into hell with him, and the other actors never quite pulled it off.”
Actors like Chris Pratt, Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Pine, and Matt Damon were all on the roster for the role of Jake Sully. But ultimately the race boiled down to three finalists — Chris Evans, Channing Tatum, and Sam Worthington. And even though Cameron claimed that he liked both the former actors’ “appeal”, it was Worthington’s delivery of Avatar‘s climactic speech that sealed the role for him.
Sam Worthington Not Charismatic Enough For James Bond
Even though the indomitable force of Sam Worthington took him from living out of his car to a global star of the highest-grossing movie of all time almost overnight, the actor failed to impress Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson for the role of 007 in his audition for 2005’s Casino Royale. Sam Worthington recalls that Broccoli even groomed his hair to prep him for his audition as Bond — “I could play Bond as a killer, but I couldn’t get the debonair down for the life of me. The suit did not fit.”
Considering how the Bond franchise went on to dominate the box office for 15 years and escalated Daniel Craig to global stardom (and a better offer was waiting in the wings for Worthington), it did play out for the best for all parties involved in the end.
Avatar: The Way of Water is now in theatres.
Source: Variety
