Sam Worthington facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sam Worthington
Worthington in 2022
Born	Samuel Henry John Worthington (1976-08-02) 2 August 1976 (age 49) Godalming, Surrey, England
Nationality	Australian
Education	National Institute of Dramatic Art (BFA)
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2000–present
Spouse(s)	Lara Bingle ​ (m. 2014)​
Children	3

Samuel Henry John Worthington (born on August 2, 1976) is an Australian actor. He is famous for his roles in both Australian movies and big Hollywood films.

He became well-known in Australia for movies like Bootmen (2000) and Somersault (2004). For Somersault, he won Australia's top film award for Best Actor. He also gained fame from the TV series Love My Way. Sam Worthington became internationally famous after starring in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009). This movie is still one of the highest-grossing films ever. He played the same character again in the sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water (2022).

He has also been in other big movies like Terminator Salvation (2009), Clash of the Titans (2010), and Wrath of the Titans (2012). He also voiced the main character in the popular Call of Duty: Black Ops video game series. More recently, he has appeared in films such as Everest (2015), Hacksaw Ridge (2016), and The Shack (2017). He also received praise for his TV work in Manhunt: Unabomber (2017) and Under the Banner of Heaven (2022). His recent movies include Lift (2024) and The Exorcism (2024). He also stars in the western series Horizon: An American Saga.

Early Life and Education

Sam Worthington was born in Godalming, England. His parents were English. When he was six months old, his family moved to Perth, Western Australia. He grew up in Warnbro, a suburb of Rockingham. His mother, Jeanne, was a homemaker, and his father, Ronald, worked at a power plant. He also has a sister named Lucinda.

Sam went to Rockingham Senior High School and John Curtin College of the Arts. This second school was a high school that focused on drama. He studied drama there but did not finish school. When he left college, his father gave him $400. He sent him on a trip to Cairns, Queensland, telling him to find his way back home by working. Sam started doing construction and other odd jobs. He eventually settled in Sydney. When he was 19, while working as a bricklayer, he tried out for the National Institute of Dramatic Art. He was accepted with a scholarship.

Career Highlights

Starting in Australia (2000–2008)

Sam Worthington had a small part in the Australian dance movie Bootmen (2000). He then played a main role in the Australian comedy Gettin' Square.

He had a big role in Somersault (2004). For this movie, he won the AFI Award for Best Lead Actor. He was also well-known in Australia for playing Howard in the popular TV series Love My Way. In 2006, he played the main character in a modern version of Macbeth.

Sam's international movie career began with small roles in the Hollywood film The Great Raid (2005). This movie was filmed in Australia. He tried out for the role of James Bond in Casino Royale but Daniel Craig got the part. He then starred in the Australian creature film Rogue (2007), which received great reviews.

Avatar and Big Success (2009–2012)

In 2009, Sam Worthington starred in the science-fiction movie Avatar. It was directed by James Cameron. In the film, Sam played Jake Sully, a former U.S. Marine who uses a wheelchair. He becomes part of a war between humans and the Na'vi people on the planet Pandora. The movie was a huge success. It received many awards and is still the highest-grossing film of all time. It made over $2.8 billion worldwide. This role won him the Saturn Award for Best Actor.

Worthington in 2010

In 2010, Sam shared that when he tried out for Avatar, he wasn't told what the movie was about. He said that James Cameron "changed his life" and he is very thankful to him.

After his Avatar audition, Sam got a part in the 2009 science fiction action movie Terminator Salvation. This was thanks to James Cameron recommending him. In this movie, Sam starred with Christian Bale. He played Marcus Wright, a human-terminator hybrid. Terminator Salvation was released on May 21, 2009. It made over $371.4 million.

In early 2010, Sam Worthington appeared in Clash of the Titans. This was an action fantasy movie. He was the main star of the film. It made $493 million worldwide. He also voiced Captain Alex Mason, the main character in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops. In November 2010, The Hollywood Reporter named Sam as one of the young male actors who were becoming very important in Hollywood. Also in 2010, Forbes magazine listed him among Hollywood's highest-earning actors.

In 2012, Sam starred in Wrath of the Titans, which was the sequel to Clash of the Titans. The movie made $302 million. He also played Alex Mason again in Call of Duty: Black Ops II. In 2012, Sam Worthington also starred as Nick Cassidy in Man on a Ledge. This was a suspense-thriller movie. His acting in the film received praise.

Different Roles (2013–2021)

In 2013, Sam Worthington worked on Drift. This Australian movie was about how the surf industry began in the 1970s. He then starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the action thriller Sabotage (2014). Sam also appeared in the drama movie Cake (2014). This movie starred Jennifer Aniston. In the same year, he had a supporting role in the western film The Keeping Room.

Worthington in 2014

In 2015, Sam starred in Paper Planes. This was an Australian 3D children's drama film. The movie tells the story of a young boy named Dylan who is good at making paper planes. He dreams of competing in the World Paper Plane Championships in Japan. Sam then played Willem Holleeder in Kidnapping Freddy Heineken (2015). This movie was based on a real kidnapping from 1983. He also played a character in Everest, which was based on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster. This film was a success, making $203 million worldwide.

In 2016, he played Captain Jack Glover in Hacksaw Ridge. This was a war film directed by Mel Gibson. The movie is about Desmond Doss, an American medic in World War II who refused to carry a weapon. Hacksaw Ridge was released on November 4, 2016. It made $180.4 million worldwide and received great reviews.

Sam Worthington worked on The Shack in 2017. This was a Christian drama film. It was based on a popular novel. The movie made over $96 million worldwide. That year, Sam played Jim Fitzgerald in the Discovery Channel TV series Manhunt: Unabomber.

In 2018, he starred in the Netflix science fiction thriller The Titan. In 2019, Sam starred as Ray Monroe in the Netflix thriller Fractured. He then had a supporting role in Lansky (2021). This movie was about the life of gangster Meyer Lansky. He also played the main role in Tim Sutton's western The Last Son (2021). He also appeared in the Australian ABC TV drama Fires.

Avatar Sequels and Recent Work (2022–Present)

Sam Worthington played Jake Sully again in Avatar: The Way of Water (2022). Like the first Avatar movie, it was a big success with critics and at the box office. It broke many records and made over $2.320 billion worldwide. This made it the highest-grossing film of 2022 and the third-highest-grossing film of all time. In the same year, he had a role in the miniseries Under the Banner of Heaven. This show received good reviews. In 2023, he was nominated for two awards for his work in Avatar and Under the Banner of Heaven.

The year 2024 was busy for Sam Worthington. He had supporting roles in several projects. He first appeared in the heist comedy Lift with Kevin Hart, which was released on Netflix. He then starred in the science fiction movie Breathe. He also appeared in The Exorcism alongside Russell Crowe. Other films included John Woo's action film The Killer and David Mackenzie's thriller Relay. Additionally, he worked with Giovanni Ribisi, his co-star from the Avatar series, in the western-drama films Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 and Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2. He played First Lt. Trent Gephardt in these movies.

Personal Life

Worthington and wife Lara at the 2014 AACTA Awards.

Sam Worthington has shared that when he was about 30, he sold most of his belongings. He bought a car with the money and was living in it before he tried out for Avatar.

On October 18, 2013, Sam Worthington confirmed he was in a relationship with model Lara Bingle. They got married on December 28, 2014. They have three sons, born in 2015, 2016, and 2020.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Bootmen	Mitchell Okden
2002	Hart's War	Corporal B.J. "Depot" Guidry
	Dirty Deeds	Darcy Ryan
2003	Gettin' Square	Barry "Wattsy" Wirth
2004	Somersault	Joe
	Thunderstruck	Ronnie
2005	The Great Raid	Private First Class Lucas
	Fink!	Able
2006	Macbeth	Lord Macbeth
2007	Rogue	Neil Kelly
2009	Terminator Salvation	Marcus Wright
	Avatar	Jake Sully / Tom Sully
2010	Clash of the Titans	Perseus
	Last Night	Michael Reed
	Love & Distrust	Miles	Segment: "Blue Poles"
	The Debt	Young David Peretz
2011	Texas Killing Fields	Detective Mike Souder
2012	Man on a Ledge	Nick Cassidy
	Wrath of the Titans	Perseus
2013	Drift	J.B.
2014	Sabotage	DEA Agent James "Monster" Murray
	Cake	Roy Collins
	The Keeping Room	Moses
2015	Paper Planes	Jack Webber
	Kidnapping Freddy Heineken	Willem Holleeder
	Everest	Guy Cotter
2016	Hacksaw Ridge	Captain Jack Glover
2017	The Shack	Mack Philips
	The Hunter's Prayer	Stephen Lucas
2018	The Titan	Rick Janssen
2019	Fractured	Ray Monroe
2021	Lansky	David Stone
	The Last Son	Isaac Lemay
2022	9 Bullets	Jack
	Avatar: The Way of Water	Jake Sully
2023	Transfusion	Ryan Logan
	Simulant	Kessler
2024	Lift	Huxley
	Breathe	Lucas
	Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1	First Lt. Trent Gephardt
	The Exorcism	Joe
	The Killer	Finn
	Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 2	First Lt. Trent Gephardt
	Relay	0TBA
2025	Avatar: Fire and Ash	Jake Sully	Post-production
	Zero A. D.	Antipater	Filming
2029	Avatar 4	Jake Sully	Filming
2031	Avatar 5	Jake Sully	Filming
TBA	Alphas	TBA	Post-production
	Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 3	First Lt. Trent Gephardt	Filming
	Fuze	TBA	Filming

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Television

Video Games

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Sam Worthington para niños