Sam Worthington
- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Samuel Henry John Worthington was born August 2, 1976 in Surrey, England. His
parents, Jeanne (Martyn) and Ronald Worthington, a power plant
employee, moved the family to Australia when he was six months old, and
raised him and his sister Lucinda in Warnbro, a suburb of Perth,
Western Australia.
Worthington graduated from NIDA (Australia's National Institute of
Dramatic Art) in 1998 at the age of 22. He received critical acclaim
for his portrayal of "Arthur Wellesley" in his first professional role
in the Belvoir Street Theatre production "Judas Kiss" (directed by
Neil Armfield). He then went on to work in
Australian television on such shows as
Water Rats (1996) and "Backburner"
and then on the American TV show
JAG (1995)'s 100th episode (Boomerang:
Part 1).
Worthington made his film debut in the highly acclaimed Australian
movie Bootmen (2000), a film about a
troop of "tap dogs". Minor roles proceeded in
Hart's War (2002) and
A Matter of Life (2001) before
he was cast in another hailed Australian drama,
Dirty Deeds (2002), co-starring
Toni Collette and
John Goodman.
The following year, he starred in yet another Aussie film, opposite
David Wenham in
Gettin' Square (2003). The
director of the film,
Jonathan Teplitzky, originally tested
actors who were up to 8 years older than the then-27-year-old
Worthington. Teplitzky wasn't sure Sam "could convincingly play a tough
guy and also have elements of the leading man about him", but in the
end Teplitzky decided he was "fantastic", and had "David playing the
older, slightly more streetwise accomplice" proclaiming "it worked".
But it wasn't until 2004 that Sam got his big break. He was offered the
starring role in Cate Shortland's
acclaimed Australian drama
Somersault (2004), opposite
Abbie Cornish. The film made a clean sweep
of the Australian Film Institute awards in 2004, winning in 13 film
categories - the first time this has ever occurred in the award's
history. Worthington also won the AFI award for Best Male Actor.
Worthington's career took off internationally when he was cast as Jake
Sully in James Cameron's
Avatar (2009) and as Marcus Wright, a
cyborg who assists the humans despite their suspicions of him in
Terminator Salvation (2009).
Worthington soon became a household name, and starring in high profile
films
Clash of the Titans (2010),
The Debt (2010),
Texas Killing Fields (2011),
Man on a Ledge (2012), and
Wrath of the Titans (2012).
Worthington also provided the voice for the Call of Duty: Black Ops
video games.
In 2010, Worthington started a production company, Full Clip
Productions, with two of his close friends John Schwarz and Michael
Schwarz. The company teamed with Radical studios to print two graphic
novels Damaged and Patriots.
parents, Jeanne (Martyn) and Ronald Worthington, a power plant
employee, moved the family to Australia when he was six months old, and
raised him and his sister Lucinda in Warnbro, a suburb of Perth,
Western Australia.
Worthington graduated from NIDA (Australia's National Institute of
Dramatic Art) in 1998 at the age of 22. He received critical acclaim
for his portrayal of "Arthur Wellesley" in his first professional role
in the Belvoir Street Theatre production "Judas Kiss" (directed by
Neil Armfield). He then went on to work in
Australian television on such shows as
Water Rats (1996) and "Backburner"
and then on the American TV show
JAG (1995)'s 100th episode (Boomerang:
Part 1).
Worthington made his film debut in the highly acclaimed Australian
movie Bootmen (2000), a film about a
troop of "tap dogs". Minor roles proceeded in
Hart's War (2002) and
A Matter of Life (2001) before
he was cast in another hailed Australian drama,
Dirty Deeds (2002), co-starring
Toni Collette and
John Goodman.
The following year, he starred in yet another Aussie film, opposite
David Wenham in
Gettin' Square (2003). The
director of the film,
Jonathan Teplitzky, originally tested
actors who were up to 8 years older than the then-27-year-old
Worthington. Teplitzky wasn't sure Sam "could convincingly play a tough
guy and also have elements of the leading man about him", but in the
end Teplitzky decided he was "fantastic", and had "David playing the
older, slightly more streetwise accomplice" proclaiming "it worked".
But it wasn't until 2004 that Sam got his big break. He was offered the
starring role in Cate Shortland's
acclaimed Australian drama
Somersault (2004), opposite
Abbie Cornish. The film made a clean sweep
of the Australian Film Institute awards in 2004, winning in 13 film
categories - the first time this has ever occurred in the award's
history. Worthington also won the AFI award for Best Male Actor.
Worthington's career took off internationally when he was cast as Jake
Sully in James Cameron's
Avatar (2009) and as Marcus Wright, a
cyborg who assists the humans despite their suspicions of him in
Terminator Salvation (2009).
Worthington soon became a household name, and starring in high profile
films
Clash of the Titans (2010),
The Debt (2010),
Texas Killing Fields (2011),
Man on a Ledge (2012), and
Wrath of the Titans (2012).
Worthington also provided the voice for the Call of Duty: Black Ops
video games.
In 2010, Worthington started a production company, Full Clip
Productions, with two of his close friends John Schwarz and Michael
Schwarz. The company teamed with Radical studios to print two graphic
novels Damaged and Patriots.