Avatar's Sam Worthington Missed Out On Playing James Bond For One Simple Reason
In James Cameron's 2009 film "Avatar," Sam Worthington plays Jake Sully, a jarhead military man who is capable at tactics and little else. When his consciousness is shunted into the body of a nine-foot cloned Na'vi, and he goes out onto an alien world to learn the Na'vi ways, he finds his mind expanding, and his hatred for the human world increasing. By the end of the film, he moves into his alien body permanently to live a vaunted position among them. The story is something straight out of James Fenimore Cooper, with Jake Sully fulfilling a well-worn "going native" role favored in a certain subgenre of colonialist fiction.
Jake Sully isn't a terribly sophisticated character, which may be kind of the point. It wouldn't be until the release of "Avatar: The Way of Water," where Jake is now 13 years older but still a military-minded guy, that he would reveal the consistency of his character. In "Avatar," circumstances favored his mindset. In "The Way of Water," it doesn't serve him as well.
Worthington, with his handsome, tough features and muscular physique, became known in the United States in high-profile action films like "Clash of the Titans" and "Terminator Salvation." He has played soldiers numerous times, including voicing the protagonist in a few of the "Call of Duty: Black Ops" video games. His capability of playing such brutish action heroes even once, back in the mid-2000s, had Worthington lined up to be the next James Bond. At the time, the Bond film series was looking for a younger, more aggressive actor to play the British super spy, and the producers ultimately selected Daniel Craig to play the part. Worthington was passed on for a simple reason: He didn't quite fix a tuxedo.
If the suit doesn't fit ...
In a recent interview with Variety, Worthington, 46, talked about auditioning to play James Bond, and how far along he got in the process. As it happens, Worthington was one of the final few actors that Barbara Broccoli, one of the masterminds of the film franchise, had consulted. It's worth remembering what a change of pace Martin Campbell's "Casino Royale" was meant to be after the silliness of 2002's "Die Another Day." This was to be a James Bond for a post-9/11 world, where action was less goofy and fun, and spy work was seen as stressful, violent, and soul-draining for the people who engage in it. That Worthington has a talent for playing bruisers was very much the point.
Worthington says that he met Broccoli in a hotel room for a screen test, and that the producer personally cut his hair. Bond, it seems, was to have a very particular look. Worthington — tall, thick, and handsome — certainly looked the part. He also capably captured the toughness that the producers wanted. What he couldn't pull off was Bond's natural charm. Even in a toughened-up world, 007 still needed to convince audiences that he could skillfully play a hand of poker or lure rival spies into his bedroom. It seems that Worthington wasn't quite equal to that challenge, saying: "I could play Bond as a killer, but I couldn't get the debonair down for the life of me. [...] The suit did not fit."
Worthington is a more varied actor than he typically gets credit for, often bringing a no-nonsense, straightforward naturalism to his roles. He rarely gets a chance to be "showy," but has certainly carved out a niche for himself. He's poised to star in two of the biggest films of all time, so he's certainly not hurting.