Who is this Sam Worthington cat and why is his star on the rise? Other than a poorly reviewed contemporary version of MacBeth and a short stint on some television show, Worthington hasn’t had much in the way of leading roles. Hell, even in a straight-to-DVD movie about a killer crocodile that came out last year he played second fiddle to some unknown guy (amusingly, I actually watched Rogue about two weekends ago on Sci-Fi after coming home drunk from the bar – and maybe it was because of the beer, but I didn’t know that was Worthington until just now).
So how does this even work? He goes from almost complete obscurity (check out his past few years on IMDb for chrissake) to what will certainly be a huge, huge star. How does such an unknown get the leading role in Terminator Salvation (which he is the best part of, truth be told), convince James Cameron that he can be the big star in his upcoming potentially Hollywood-changing, undoubtably award-winning Avatar, snag first billing in John Madden’s The Debt alongside Helen Mirren and Tom Wilkinson, and then get the main role in Louis Leterrier’s inevitably successful Clash of the Titans remake with Liam Neeson, Danny Huston, and Ralph Fiennes (pictured above, courtesy of /Film).
Does he just have the greatest agent in the business? Is he just lucky? Did he sign over his soul to the devil? If so, where do I sign? Are the studios forcing him on directors in hopes of making him a mega star? Or do all of these directors really just see something special in this guy?
All I know is that I wish I were in this guy’s shoes. He’s going to be pulling poon like crazy a year from now.
Tell me your secrets, Sam.
He’s Australian. Mystery solved.
Actually, I haven’t seen Rogue but I thought he was excellent in “Somersault” (which also starred the very talented Abbie Cornish) and though I hated Geoffrey Wright’s Mcbeth, Worthington was good in it. It was only a matter of time before he hit the big time.
Next up on the Australian “soon to be superstar list”: Alex O’Loughlin
Dang, I still haven’t seen ROGUE either. I was kinda hoping it would have gotten a semi-wide theatrical after the success of Wolf Creek. Ah Well. I’ve seen the first 1/2 of that MacBeth version. One of the very few films I’ve ever walked out of. TERRIBLE (and sadly from the director of ROMPER STOMPER).
Rogue is only a step above your regular Saturday afternoon made for Sci-Fi channel specials.
More than being Australian, he’s from PERTH. That “little” (1.5 million people) west coast town that Heath Ledger was also from, and Hugh Jackman went to drama school there. There must be something in the water, because everybody I know from Perth is really awesome in some inexplicable way.
I have no complaints of him being in many many films to come. No complaints.
Wolf Creek was brutal (scary/terrifying-wise), I barely made it through. Rogue looks a little silly but, I’ll see it eventually. Sad to hear the MacBeth is terrible Kurt, but I still will likely find it – I chose sleep over seeing it at TIFF years ago.
OH, and to add to the comment Ashley made – I’m was thinking could be theatre world break out.
As if you’re not already stealing poon left and right Jonathan.