Do People Actually Like Sam Worthington?
Following rumors from last November, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Sam Worthington will star in The Fields (previously called The Texas Killing Fields). Ami Canaan Mann -- daughter of Michael -- will direct Don Ferrarone's script, which is based on a true story. Worthington will play a "Texas homicide detective who joins with a New York detective to investigate unsolved murders in the Texas bayous." Pre-production has begun on the project, but the Manhattan law is yet to be cast.With this latest confirmation, it's clear that all of those Worthington rumors aren't just blank, rumor-mill hype whipped up because of Avatar. His name has been batted about for Mad Max 4, he's said to be attached to American Crime, there have been questions about playing savior of the universe Flash Gordon, and maybe even Dracula.
The man is definitely a hot commodity, and with all due respect (I swear!) I ask: why? He's got the looks and the build to play the tough guy, that's for certain. He's an okay actor too (although we should look for more than okay), but he's lacking that OMG Next Big Thing! charisma. Or the I really like this guy! charisma. Or the He's so damn cool! charisma. Even fluffy action movies (could Flash Gordon be anything but?) need that winning presence to pull you in and fuel a franchise. Imagine Han Solo and Indiana Jones without Harrison Ford's charm... Or more applicably, the old-school Mel Gibson who led Mad Max and Lethal Weapon. The classics we love are iconic because of that magnetic, irresistible pull the stars possess.
And god, that's a whole different world than Dracula, the one figure whose entire existence rests on an endlessly powerful thrall and magnetism that's damn near impossible to avoid.
This isn't a post meant to just bash the actor. I think there's a lot of possibility there, but it's too much, too soon -- throwing the kid into the deep end after one successful doggie paddle, rather than letting him get the hang of it and sinuously swim into the deep end on his own accord and talents. And having read similar opinions questioning Worthington's charisma, I wonder if this is just the new Hollywood trend aiming to manufacture charismatic action stars (cue Taylor Lautner references), rather than letting the phenomenon happen naturally.
So what's the "wow" of Worthington? Do people actually like him, or Is the "wow" not there yet?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
2-08-2010 @ 5:14PM
ILikeCocoaCrispies said...
I was thinking the same thing, especially since every time I see him on television or in pictures he looks mad. But after looking at a certain few interviews I find him interesting. I think he needs time to get more comfortable with the whole fame thing.
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2-17-2010 @ 2:19PM
Digi said...
I think the mans doing a great job, sounds liek women just need to constantly have the spotlight or else somethings 'wrong'. Thsi writier 'MoniKA' needs to check herself. All her articles are like self whiney montages. Sounds like what dot he kids call them these days..Emo's or whatever
2-08-2010 @ 5:16PM
HokieSeas said...
Having only seen him in Avatar and Terminator: Salvation, I think perhaps he just has very good agents putting his name out there trying to manufacture name buzz. Just from those two movies I wouldn't say we have any reason to think he is the next big movie star, but isn't that something that still has to be earned instead of created by the hollywood machine?
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3-30-2010 @ 8:25AM
Reece said...
uh mate you do know that avatar was the greatest sellling movie of all time? plus the fact terminator was a movie with a huge fanbase...
2-08-2010 @ 5:18PM
Tyler said...
It has become quite apparent that anything James Cameron likes, Hollywood decides to like. That is why Worthington is so huge. He has the money making god James Cameron on his side.
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2-08-2010 @ 5:24PM
Hayley said...
I disagree. Granted I'm a teenage girl and he is easy on the eyes but I do think that he has a charm and charisma. I think he's a pretty good actor (his work in Somersault is his best) and he's like-able as himself (check him out on Rove on youtube). And I think its great that an Australian actor is making it big in Hollywood and not just some random pretty boy Californian actor. I think Sam Worthington is the next big thing. Sorry.
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2-08-2010 @ 5:21PM
Chaya said...
I thought he was kinda a douche and boring in Avatar
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2-08-2010 @ 5:46PM
Jesse M said...
If it's a little too early to get so excited about Sam, it's WAY too early to start dissing him as uninteresting or badly-cast. He performs his parts well, including the lost war-jock in Avatar, the brooding Terminator, and (from what I can tell) the uninhibited Perseus in Clash of the Titans. Take a look at action heroes... since the 80's, they haven't exactly had glowing, Fred Astaire personalities. Van Damme and Schwarzenegger didn't win us over with their lovable charm. Vin Deisel and Jason Statham? Basically professional athletes who work for a director instead of a coach. Yet, they're the deserving icons of the action movie universe. The audience makes these guys what they are, and Worthington has the range and the presence to have the same kind of career.
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2-08-2010 @ 5:59PM
cooper said...
quote "The man is definitely a hot commodity, and with all due respect (I swear!) I ask: why?"
Well, my answer to your question is that he's fresh and has talent. I like his acting style anyway, and this not only based on Avatar or T4 performance. I got to watch many of his previous movies, and this man has something than many dont...Can be rough, tough...you name it, but also there is a sensitive, vulnerable side of him that not many action actors possess.
I, for one, am looking forward to his future projects with high interest.
I just wish people give him a break and let him do his job.
If your job is to write article on a site, do your homework before writing .."i dont want to bash..."
I think the world of grown ups is under the influence of teen behaviour...If papz, or teens are not chasing, stalking an actor down the street, screeming under hormonal pressure, then that actor doesnt have "OMG Next Big Thing! "
People are too subdude these days, they need some shocks in order to wake up and see the obvious in front of them.
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2-08-2010 @ 6:17PM
Paul said...
To be fair to the man he hasn't really been given a "Lovable Rogue" role yet like Mel Gibson and Harrison Ford had.
In TERMINATOR SALVATION he was the depressed and withdrawn enigma in a world he doesn't understand (that and he was in a film directed by McG). He was written/underwritten as mopey, suicidal, and lost. (That and he was in a film directed by McG). Still he came out of that film pretty well. Especially since the key dramatic parts of his character were taken out of the script to make way for more Angry Bale.
And in AVATAR he was lonely, depressed, angry, idiot grunt marine. All of his charismatic, fun moments happened when he was a CG effect. AND once again all his meaty dramatic parts were taken out of the script early to make the film more easily accessible. I still wish the film went by the old Project 880 treatment where when Jake first walks in his Avatar he cries instead of jumping for joy and giving us a WOW EFFECTS moment.
I'll give this guy the benefit of the doubt for now. He's got the eyes for a leading man that's for sure. Though if he's not careful within two years he'll have pulled a Ben Affleck (an actorly trait where you're in too many movies in too short a time without any difference between performances. Look at 2001-2003.).
But hey, forget these films, do AVATAR 2.
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2-08-2010 @ 6:18PM
Andy said...
What a crazy but interesting question. With the amount of huge projects he's in, that seems to be really none of our business.
I guess the less things Shea Leboof to be in, the better. And in that regard, I am pro-Sam.
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2-08-2010 @ 6:26PM
corwin said...
I think it's too early in his career to make that call just yet...
...as for "too much, too soon" I think Taylor Lautner owns that crown.
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2-08-2010 @ 6:24PM
Mark Walters said...
Nah, he sucks. This is just another case of Hollywood telling us who we're going to like as a leading man. Look back on actors like Heath Ledger. He admitted in interviews he never wanted to be a leading man, they just pushed him to be. The studios set their eyes on an actor or actress, and purposely try to make them the next big thing. Look also at Channing Tatum - AWFUL actor, yet keeps getting lead roles. Worthington is boring, and just not that great as an actor, plus he has zero charisma. And one more thing, he REALLY needs to work with a voice coach to get rid of that Aussie accent - it creeps through constantly. I guarantee you, if it had not been for James Cameron pushing this guy forward, no one would know who he was.
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2-12-2010 @ 11:37AM
Linz said...
And that is your opinion. I don't think that James Cameron is "pushing him forward." Working with Cameron and with Avatar being such a huge succcess that does open a lot more doors for both Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana as it did for both Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet after Titanic.
Hollywood isn't telling us to like anyone or force us to like anyone, if you don't like a certain actor or actress than don't see their movies period. I don't care for Channing Tatum but it appears that a lot of teenage girls and women do.
First off, Heath Ledger was 19 years old when he started out in Hollywood and after the success of 10 Things I hate about You and The Patriot, the studio wanted to capitalize on the "Heart throb" status. So thats why they tried to throw him into hunky leading man roles. As Heath got older he started to figure out the business, and stepped back and took more interesting roles (Brokeback Mountain, The Dark Knight, I am not there). Whereas Sam is 33 and worked in film and television in Australia for 10 years before making films in the U.S. so he has knowledge and more of an understanding as to how things work and I don't think he is going to allow himself to be pushed into a certain type of role and so on. So it's apples and oranges.
Sam Worthington isn't just doing "big budget roles" or "big star roles" he finished two smaller films The Debt and Last Night. The Texas Killing Fields is said not too be a big budget film. If he does the Dracula movie I doubt that will be a big budget movie seeing that The Director usually does smaller budget films (The Crow, Dark City) with the exception of I, Robot which had a budget of $120 million. But it was a hit film.
2-08-2010 @ 6:29PM
pinball said...
I have to agree I don't get his sudden ascendance to big star either, Cameron and the visual effects were the reazsons for Avatar's success, not Worthington. We'll have to see how he does without Cameron.
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2-08-2010 @ 6:56PM
Kate said...
I'm sure he's a fine person of good character, but I've only seen him in 'Avatar' and it was like watching a blank chalkboard. On the other hand, 'Avatar' blew, so maybe I just need to see him in something that doesn't blow, but this new line-up doesn't give me much confidence. :/
In short, I really don't care. I think. Meh.
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2-08-2010 @ 7:10PM
June said...
One word: Jeremy Renner.
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2-08-2010 @ 7:43PM
Jason Harris said...
I've wondered about this myself. The guy seems to be toplining a lot of the big releases these days, and it's pretty out of the blue. I could ask 5 people what they thought about Sam Worthington and I bet you at least 4 of them would say "Who?"
I don't see anyone clamoring for him to be in more stuff, he's just...there. He seems to be playing a soldier-y type in the big 3 releases he's been in (going to be in) and well..ok. I mean, he doesn't bother me at all, he was perfectly fine in Avatar, but he could have easily been replaced by just about any other actor.
My theory: He must work cheap and/or be related to a studio exec.
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2-08-2010 @ 9:17PM
Lumpee said...
I like him.
People do understand he has been in more then 2 movies, right?
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2-09-2010 @ 5:10PM
criticschoice2000 said...
Everyone googles everyone these days, but my first encounter with Sam was a movie about 10 years ago called Bootmen. It's set in Australia, so no fake accents....great movie.