Matt Damon was originally supposed to play Jake Sully in Avatar. However, due to his “Bourne” commitments, he had to reject the offer, along with a 10 percent profit share. Damon lost more than 250 (!) Million dollars. A botched mega deal for the history books – without which one of the most beautiful Hollywood fairytales of the recent past would never have been created.
Because only then did director James Cameron have to look for a cheaper alternative solution given the production costs, which were bursting at the seams – and finally found it in Sam Worthington. The incredible thing about the story: The Aussie was living in his car when he landed the role of Jake Sully – and suddenly became part of the highest-grossing movie of all time.
But how did this steep climb, which sounds like the ultimate rags-to-riches fairy tale, come about?
That’s why Sam Worthington lived on the street
Sam Worthington began his acting career in his native Australia, where he appeared regularly in front of the camera from the turn of the millennium. But whether it’s animal horror film (“Rogue”), Shakespearean adaptation (“Macbeth”) or war film (“The Great Raid”) – he was denied his big break for years.
“I lived in Sydney and every time I went into the bar they recognized me. I rebelled against that,” Worthington said in an interview . He sold all his belongings to his buddies, fitted his car with a mattress and lived on the streets from then on. “I didn’t like who I was,” Worthington admits in the interview. It was then that he received an application for the role of a certain Jake Sully – and was invited to a casting that could hardly have turned out worse. Actually…
Casting of a Rebel
The audition took place in great secrecy. Sam Worthington didn’t even know what movie he was auditioning for, let alone who directed it. All he was told was that his role would be for Jake Sully to arrive on an alien planet – and that was it.
This enraged the Australian so much that he even refused to read the lines he was given. Instead, he spit gum at the camera. “I was just angry.”
Convinced that he had screwed up the casting, which he said was nothing more than a “waste of time”, he left Dannen – only to find out who would direct Jake Sully’s adventure: James Cameron. The makers of ‘Terminator’ and ‘Titanic’ have informed Worthington that he would like to meet him. His first thought: “Oh, damn it. I’m in trouble!”
But far from that. Cameron loved the Australian’s fighting spirit. That’s exactly what he was looking for for Jake Sully. Once the lead director came to terms with Worthington’s “Crocodile Dundee-esque Australian accent”, he saw in him what he lacked in other contestants: “Sam was the guy I wanted to follow into battle. He was the guy with whom I wanted to go through hell. The other actors couldn’t,” says Cameron.
Despite the studio’s concerns about casting an unnamed star in such a blockbuster hit, Worthington landed the role. However, breaking the good news to him was almost as difficult as the audition. Producer Jon Landau recalls, “It took days to get hold of him because he was on a hilltop somewhere with no phone. That’s Sam.”
And so it finally happened in 2009: Sam Worthington celebrated his international breakthrough. In addition to Avatar, he starred in Terminator Salvation, the sequel to another Cameron landmark – before returning straight to the screen in his next blockbuster, Clash of the Titans (2010). Of course, Worthington is best known as Jake Sully to this day. Of course, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t appear on camera for smaller productions in between his Pandora adventures: