Actor / Director Profile

Born on August 2, 1976; Sam Worthington graduated from NIDA (Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art) in 1998 at the age of 22. Sam received critical acclaim for his portrayal of "Arthur Wellesley" in his first professional role in the Belvoir Street Theatre production "Judas Kiss" (directed by Neil Armfield). He then went on to work in Australian television on such shows as "Water Rats" (1996) and "Backburner" and then on the American TV show "JAG" (1995)'s 100th episode (Boomerang: Part 1). Also in 2000, Sam made his first movie appearance in the highly acclaimed Australian movie Bootmen (2000), about a troop of "tap dogs"; the film also starred Adam Garcia as Sam's brother. Minor roles proceeded in Hart's War (2002) and A Matter of Life (2001) before Sam starred in another hailed Australian drama, Dirty Deeds (2002), which also starred Toni Collette and John Goodman.The following year, he starred in yet another Aussie film, opposite David Wenham in Gettin' Square (2003). The director of the film, Jonathan Teplitzky, originally tested actors who were up to 8 years older than the then-27-year-old Worthington. Teplitzky wasn't sure Sam "could convincingly play a tough guy and also have elements of the leading man about him", but in the end Teplitzky decided Sam was "fantastic", and had "David playing the older, slightly more streetwise accomplice" proclaiming "it worked".But it wasn't until 2004 that Sam got his big break. Having made his directorial debut on the short film, Enzo (2004), Sam was offered the role of "Joe" in the unique and greatly acclaimed Australian drama, written and directed by Cate Shortland, Somersault (2004), opposite Abbie Cornish. Somersault (2004) took 7 years to make, and Shortland wanted to cast the perfect actor in the role of "Joe". Shortland did much preparation for the film, arranging for a 3-week rehearsal period prior to shooting, it all paid off. The film did amazingly well, making a clean sweep of the Australian Film Institute awards in 2004 to win in all 13 film categories - the first time this has ever occurred in the award's history. It beat the previous record of eight AFI awards shared by Lantana (2001) and Newsfront (1978). Sam won the AFI for best male actor.Sam's career took off internationally when he was cast in Avatar (2009) and Terminator Salvation (2009). He has said that he will go where ever the work takes him and would "like to go on "Dancing with the Stars" (2005/I)".