Movies - TV
Sam Worthington's 'Angry' Avatar Audition Should Have Cost Him
The Role
By LYVIE SCOTT
Before tapping Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña to star in “Avatar”, director James Cameron put the actors through a rigorous, secretive audition process. Neither had any idea what the project was, what character they'd be playing, nor who would be directing — and Worthington didn’t take well to the secrecy.
The actor spoke to Variety about his “Avatar” auditions, including the outburst that very well could have cost him the role. After months of vague auditions and camera tests, Worthington was so fed up that during a scene he spit his gum toward the camera in protest. “I was just angry. [...] This is a waste of time,” the actor recounted.
It was Worthington's anger that actually cut through the noise and got Cameron's attention in a major way. “I saw a lot of actors,” Cameron told Variety. “But Sam was the guy who made me want to follow him into battle. He was the guy who made me want to go into hell with him, and the other actors never quite pulled it off.”