Sam Worthington is a newcomer to American films and few moviegoers recognize his name, but that's likely to change by the end of the year. Worthington has starring roles in two huge films coming out in 2009 - Terminator Salvation with Christian Bale and Jim Cameron's Avatar. He's also currently at work on the remake of Clash of the Titans playing the lead role of Perseus (Harry Hamlin's part in the 1981 cult classic).

Not bad for a guy who didn't really want to be an actor to begin with.
The Aussie actor was working as a bricklayer when he went with a girlfriend to an audition for a prestigious drama school just to lend some moral support. She didn't get in - he did. Needless to say, that relationship is a thing of the past. "She dumped me a week later, and that was the end of that relationship," recalled Worthington at the LA press day for Terminator Salvation. "But I didn’t know Shakespeare or what wings on a stage was. I thought Chekhov was on the Starship Enterprise; I didn’t realize he wrote plays. And until you're a sponge, you take in everything, and after three years of studying you then go out and learn how to act. It’s as simple as that."

Worthington was actually working on Avatar when he got the part in Terminator Salvation. Jim Cameron wrote/directed Terminator and T2, and Terminator Salvation director McG visited Cameron on the Avatar set to fill him in on what he was planning to do with Terminator Salvation and to check out Sam Worthington.

McG was looking for an actor who could go toe-to-toe with Christian Bale, and Worthington was just the ticket.

Worthington has high praise for McG who took a real chance casting him as Marcus. "McG’s given me the world. Just like Jim, I think he's very high risk to say, 'Sam, come in here.' And me and him work, I love working with him, you know? And that sounds like a cliché, but if I've got to go to work, I don't want to be told what to do. I'm not a puppet; I'm not a monkey. I like working with someone so I can stand on the front line and say, 'McG, we’re proud of this damn movie.' And I would stand toe-to-toe with McG on the front line. The movie he has given you is the movie he told me he wanted to make and that's the best. I think that’s a good director. He’s friendly. He’s giving. He wants to make good films. That's nice to be a part of that instead of some director sitting back going, 'F--k it. I make it because I want to.' You know, he wants to give it to an audience."

Worthington plays Marcus Wright, a man who discovers - much to his dismay - that he's no longer completely human in Terminator Salvation. In order to get into the Terminator mindset, Worthington says he reacquainted himself with the previous films. "I would have been actually 15 or something when Terminator 2 came out. So you remember the liquid man of course and he was arguably, that was kind of revolutionary for this time. You know, going through the helicopter and all that. But I think what they do is they showcase how good a storyteller Jim [Cameron] is."

Set in 2018, it's a post-apocalyptic world we see in Terminator Salvation. Skynet is hunting down the last remaining humans, and Marcus Wright is right in the middle of the action. Asked what was the most difficult part of tackling all the action scenes, Worthington replied, "I think the toughest thing is, because it is so physical and it is action-orientated, I think the toughest thing is trying to get a sense of grit and gravity and weight in your performance that actually isn’t just kind of being overshadowed by all the explosions and the action. You've got to bring out, for want of a better word, the heart of this character. And I think the hardest thing was making sure that I was on the right track and that it wasn’t melodramatic."

Marcus' appearance changes throughout the film depending on, as Worthington says, how "un-repaired' the character is. "[It was] anywhere from four to six hours where they do the outline and then paint you blue so you look like a Circus du Soleil Terminator. But that wasn’t a hard one. You're sitting there for six hours, I would pity the poor guys doing it. They're the ones having to work for six hours. I just have to sit there and they make you look good."

And working opposite Bale? "He's extremely dedicated. There's no bullsh-t about him. So he comes in and it’s about story, primarily, with him. It’s not about all the hoopla that goes with it. It’s about coming in and, 'Are we revealing something about humans? Are we revealing something about ourselves that we can look at?' And I love it. Everyone calls him intense, right? As I said in the other room, I hate that f--ing word. The guy does his job. That's what he’s paid to do - come in, do the job to the best of your ability and go home, and I love that."

A scene in the film in which Worthington and Bale go face to face left quite an impression on Worthington. "I kept thinking, 'F--k, it’s Batman!' That's it. That was the first scene I did with him. So it was quite intimidating because I’d grown up watching the guy and admire his work. And then you just kind of get in the scene and bounce off each other. He’s very giving, so you don't have to do much."

2009 - The Year of Sam Worthington

So how does it feel to be the 'It' guy of '09? "Well, I'm working. I'm working, it feels f--king good. Thanks a lot," laughed Worthington. "No, I don't know whether it’s the ‘it’ guy or something, I think it's just, you know, I'm in a lucky position. I'm getting offered roles that I find interesting and I'm working with some very talented people and hopefully telling some good stories. And hopefully my work doesn't going to let those people down."
And Worthington promises he won't let his current success go to his head. "I think the world changes around you, I think you don't change. That's as simple as that. I think if I changed my mates are going to kick me in the ass," said Worthington. "You know, I'm 32 years old. If I was 22, it probably could go to your head. But as far as I'm concerned, as long as it doesn't affect my work and I can keep producing a quality that gets you the work with the likes of McG and Jim Cameron, then I'm doing okay."