Worthington actually filmed James Cameron's Avatar prior to taking on Terminator Salvation, and at the LA press day for Warner Bros' Terminator Salvation, Worthington was - of course - peppered with questions about Cameron's Avatar and another big movie he nabbed the starring role in: the remake of Clash of the Titans.
On His Living Arrangements - Australia or the US?:
"Since Avatar, I sold everything before Avatar because I knew it was going to be a long haul. And I think also - and Jim will tell you the story when we start selling that - I had two bags: a bag of books and a bag of clothes. I had nothing. So I said to Jim, 'I’ll give you everything because I've got f--king nothing,' and since then because I've been working so consistently, that’s all I've got, two bags, I just travel around with the same bags."
On His Impression of the Avatar Footage:
"Well, Jim’s very open. He showed, especially me and Zoë [Saldana], he would show a lot of it as we were filming it. You know, Jim, it’s a very collaborative relationship I have with Jim. I consider him my best friend, not only because of what he’s offered me like this world he’s brought me into, but he backs me as a man and as an actor. And I think what he has done is pushing the boundaries of what going to a movie and experiencing movies is about. And this isn’t going to be the be-all-and-end-all, but it’s certainly hopefully going to show you the possibilities of motion capture at its finest, performance capture at its finest, 3D technology and computer animation and graphics at their best. And hopefully that starts a revolution."
On Getting Cast in Avatar:
"I just went in and said, 'Look, I've got nothing to lose, man, so let’s fucking get to work.' And that was it. For six months you worked to get the job, and it took six months for me and Jim to convince a studio that you can put a mega blockbuster and an unknown actor or an untested actor, to be honest, [in the film]. So for six months with Jim, we would do auditions for the studio. But it was more a sense of me getting to know this man that you're going to be spending a year of your life with and for him, thinking. So I would say, 'Look, I've done 10 years in Australia and I’ll give you 10 years’ worth of what I know, and can we work together?' And it was the best six months before we even started filming."
On James Cameron's Reputation as a Harsh Taskmaster:
"He’s all of that and a genius, and probably the best acting director I've ever worked with bar McG. Even though it’s all technology, both of them have a real sensitivity towards character and actors. But yes, he demands - just like any actor should - he demands the bar really high and if you, like any director should, and if you don't come up to that, yes, he’ll bark. Good on him, good on him. If people don't come up to that in any job...you're not going to do it half-assed. I can't see the point."
Forget the Effects - What About Avatar's Story?:
"I think the story, Jim is always about the story first. As I said, he’s a very actor-friendly director. So you can put all the bells and whistles you like on it, like with Terminator, you know, but if it’s not about revealing something of the human spirit, people are going to tune out. And Jim’s very in touch with personal relationships, what it means to be, especially with Avatar, what it means to be a man, you know? I can take that from it. How people were affected by bullies, and I think all those kinds of themes, and a sense of hope. If you settle that and then surround it with great technology and fucking whiz-bang explosions, then you're on the path to making something that people will remember when the leave the cinema and not just kind of go, 'What did we just see?'"
He Won't Be Rocking a Toga in Clash of the Titans:
"I've got a skirt on. Yes. I don't think you can make a toga look that manly. I couldn't anyway so I said, 'Armor me up. Give me armor and a buzz cut and give me a skirt and a sword and let me loose.'"
On Being the New Hot Actor in Hollywood:
"...People do that. They want the guy who's in the moment, don't they? So, you read things. I think Russell Crowe said it, 'Sometimes you read something and it just leaps off the page and you go f--k all, I have to do this for four months,' you know? And that's the thing. I've yet to find something, apart from Clash, where I've gone, 'Man, I really want to commit four months or 13 months or four weeks to doing it.'"
So what was it about Clash of the Titans that made him sign on? "I read it and I jumped around the room with a ruler trying to chop the head off my girlfriend," said Worthington, laughing.
