Sam Worthington talks AVATAR
By Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub
Excerpt:
collider.com
Steve Weintraub: Yesterday I participated in roundtable interviews with the cast of “Terminator Salvation”. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I saw the movie last Thursday. While I can’t say what I thought due to being under embargo, I can say Sam Worthington is going to be a movie star.
The fact is, not only does Sam play Marcus in “Terminator Salvation”, he’s also one of the leads in Jim Cameron’s “Avatar” and he’s currently shooting “Clash of the Titans” under director Louis Leterrier.
He actually flew in from set to promote “Terminator”. Clearly Hollywood believes in him, and after watching “Terminator Salvation”, so do I. Anyway, with info on “Avatar” so rare, I figured you’d like to read what Sam said about watching some footage from the film.
Have you seen the final version of Avatar?
Sam: I’ve seen the latest cut. A lot of it isn’t all rendered. What’s my thought on that? It’s a *beeping* beast that’s going to kick everybody in the head.
Can you talk about your character?
Sam: He’s a former Marine who goes to another planet to drive these remote controlled bodies called Avatars. That’s basically it.
What’s more challenging, Terminator or Avatar?
Sam: Two different beasts. Totally different. With Jim it was 13 months non-stop, eight months of motion capture. This we shot four. Avatar was 13 for me and I was short. Jim’s been working on it five years.
Have you seen it in 3D?
Sam: Yeah. You see the playback in 3D. 3D for Jim is like digital for Danny Boyle. That’s just the format Jim likes. He believes it brings the audience more into the screen. It’s not ooga-booga, it’s literally you’re looking around shit.
And with it being photorealistic it actually pings in a lot better. Your brain starts to buy it. It doesn’t get distracted and distanced. You believe you’re on Pandora.
Did you have that kind of immersive experience while watching it?
Sam: Yeah from what I’ve seen in 3D, yeah. It looks like we shot it in Hawaii, it’s that *beeping* real.
How do you think Salvation compares with the previous Terminators?
I think if the first one is a horror movie, the second is an action movie and the third is a romp, then this is a war movie. A band of people fighting against a common enemy in a visceral, gritty, ball-busting world.
And what's it been like making this 'war movie'?
There's real bombs going off around you - you don't really have to act that much when you're running through a minefield! That's real. But I wasn't going to sign on if it was just wham-bam, explosions-for-your-buck. If there was no meat, there's no point in doing it.
Where does Marcus Wright fit into the story?
I look at him as a bridge between John Connor and Kyle Reese and their destinies. And in myself, it is an exploration of what it is to be human. And what it is to be good and what it is to be evil - so it's a pretty massive kind of thing!
So is he a Terminator? Half-machine?
It's more, "Who the *beep* did this to me?" That's the way I looked at it. You wake up one day, mate, and you find out that you're *beep* half-metal, you're going to want to know who the *beep* did this! I always looked at it like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. Dorothy wakes up and she meets The Scarecrow, The Lion and The Tin Man, but primarily she just wants to get to Oz and *beep* get home. That's the journey of Marcus.
What's it like working with Christian Bale?
I love him. He's extremely dedicated. People call him intense, but I say it's his *beep* job. That's what he does: he rocks up, does his job, does it to the best of his ability and then he goes home. That's primarily what you want to work with, someone whose function on set isn't to muck around but to get the job done.
Is it true James Cameron - who's directed you in Avatar - recommended you for the job?
I'm sure McG phoned Jim up to say, "What's this bloke like?" Nobody knows who the hell I am. Jim would have said, "He's a pain in the arse but at least he gets the job done." That would have been it.
What can you tell us about Avatar?
The only thing I can tell you is it's a Jim Cameron film. [laughs] I've seen quite a bit of it, but that's all I can say, mate. Sorry. Jim does have spies. Jim does have guys that will get me!
INTERVIEWS - SAM WORTHINGTON
Sam Worthington Talks Avatar
TotalFilm Exclusive: Sam on making the biggest
film of the year
Source: totalfilm.com
Sam Worthington's name has been synonymous with 'The Next Big Thing' for quite some time now, due to the lengthy production schedule of the film that earned him the moniker - James Cameron's Avatar.
In the mean time he has impressed in Terminator: Salvation, and made waves last week when the trailer for next summer's Clash of the Titans remake.
Despite all that, Avatar remains the project that will see him rise to the top of the A-list, or, heaven forbid, become the staple entry in the 'Whatever happened to...' entries for the next half century.
In the latest issue of Total Film, out this Thursday, we sat down for a chat with the hard working actor, and found him surprisingly relaxed, refreshingly down to earth, and eager for the world to see what James Cameron has cooked up.
Do you feel like the “it” actor right now?
Sam: Cousin It, more like! I try to keep my life ordinary because I have an extraordinary job. I wake up and do the washing as much as I can, because I go to work and battle aliens. That’s my job: alien killer! Or Terminator. I put that on a passport once and the guy just looked at me and went, ‘Eh, whatever...’
Is Cameron a tough taskmaster?
You work 18-hour days. I was on it for 14 months. Jim’s still editing. We’ll still be filming it up to the day it’s released... Probably after the movie comes out, knowing Jim! That commitment is what makes him the man he is. It’s life or death. It’s war. That’s how he approaches movies.
Does he ever laugh?
Yeah, he has a laugh with me all the time. He finds me amusing! But he knows more about trivia and science and jobs and philosophy than most. And that kind of big brain needs to be motivated. Sure, he does relax – he’s been relaxing for the last 13 years, doing expeditions and hanging out with his family. But when he works, there’s an intensity.
What are the alien love scenes like?
Have you met Zoe? When you see her, you realise that those scenes aren’t that hard! This guy said to me, “It’s an interspecies love story, isn’t it? That’s a bit yuk, man...” And I went, “You’re an idiot.”
Surely you don’t find blue chicks hot?
When this beautiful Na’vi flies over the top of him and he falls in love at first sight, he’s obviously not looking at that going, "Man, that’s a really nice looking nine-foot-tall blue chick there!" What he’s fallen in love with is her spirit. This is a movie about showing it’s not what you damn well look like, it’s your heart that matters.
Have you seen it in 3D yet?
I saw some stuff the other day and it’s breathtaking. It’s still coming together – Jim puts stuff in, holds stuff back. It’s his baby and people see what he wants them to see. My nephew saw it and fell off his seat!
Do you believe that 3D is the future?
Jim has always said to me that he wanted to bring the people back to the cinema. We live in a world of DVDs and downloads and there’s something unique about going to the movies. There are not many opportunities where strangers sit that close together in the dark and don’t get in trouble! Jim brings you into the screen. You can expect to be transported to Pandora.
Will there be sequels?
Well, we’re signed for a trilogy. But I think I’ll be about 94 by the time it finishes, to be honest. As for if we’ll have the privilege of making Avatar 2 – I know Jim’s got some ideas in his big head. We’ll have to see...
Sam Worthington Teases James Cameron's Avatar
By Meredith Woerner | Excerpt: io9.com
All we've heard from the official faces of James Cameron's epic space tale is "motion capture" this and "revolutionary" that, but what's the message behind it all? Avatar star Sam Worthington shared his thoughts.
We got Sam to answer a few questions about the meaning behind Avatar at the Terminator Salvation press day, and found out not only that he auditioned for the part for 6 months, but what his opening line to Cameron was. He swears like a sailor and looks tough as hell. Of course, we're big fans.
Have you seen the Avatar footage yet?
I watched it before I went on Clash of The Titans.
Is it going to outdo Titanic?
Well its a totally different movie isn't it? One's about a boat, the other's about a planet. [Laughs]
Can you talk about what you've seen?
Well, Jim is very special. Especially with me and Zoe [Saldana], he would show us a lot as he was filming it. I have a very collaborative relationship with Jim. I consider him to be my best friend. Not only because of what he's offered me, but because of this world he's brought me into. But he backs me, as a man and as an actor. I think what he has done is pushing the boundaries of what going to a movie, and experiencing what the movies, [are] all about.
This isn't going to be the big end-all, be-all, but it is certainly going to show you 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.
How did you get involved with this project?
I auditioned, and put something on tape. A week later, they flew me in to meet him, and they told me to be on my best behavior, which I wasn't.
What did you do?
I just went in and said, "Look, I've got nothing to lose. Let's *beeping* get to work." And that it. For six months you worked to get the job. It took 6 months for me and Jim to convince the studio that you can put an unknown actor — an untested actor to be honest — in a mega blockbuster. 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... It was about six months before we even started filming.
Some actors think he is a very harsh taskmaster, or even a brutal taskmaster. What's you take on it?
He's all of that, and a genius. Probably the best acting director to work with, bar McG. Even though it's all technology, both of them have a real sensitivity towards character and actors. But yeah, just like any director should, he demands the bar [be set] really high. And if you don't come up to that, yeah, he'll bark. Good on him. If people don't come up to that in any job, you're not going to do it half-assed. He's extremely harsh, but in the best possible way, because he brings out the best of you.
All I've heard about is the motion capture of Avatar and how it's going to change everything, but I'm curious about the story, how does that speak to you?
With Jim it's always about story first, as I said, he's very direct. You can put all the bells and whistles you like on it, like with Terminator, but if it's not about revealing some of the human spirit... I can't see, people are going to chew him out. Jim's very in touch with personal relationships. What it means to be, especially in Avatar, what it means to be a man, I can take that from it. Help people who are affected by bullies. I think all those kind of themes and a sense of hope. If you say all that, and then surround it with great technology and *beeping* whiz-bang explosions, then you're on the path to making something people will remember when they leave the cinema.
