Sam Worthington inWrath of the Titans(2012).Photo: Warner Bros Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock
Sam Worthingtonsaid his “arrogance” led to a clash with the studio and director Jonathan Liebesman on his 2012 filmWrath of the Titans.
In a newVarietycover story, Worthington, who returns as Jake Sully inJames Cameron’sAvatar: The Way of Water, expressedfrustration with the major action movies he madeafter 2009’sAvatar, particularly on theClash of the Titansmovies, which started with the 2010 remake.
When Worthington, now 46, returned for the 2012 sequel as Greek mythology hero Perseus, the actor decided to stop working out for the part to reflect that his character had become a single father in between movies.
“I looked at it as Perseus was half a god and half a dad, and he had decided that he didn’t want the god part anymore,” Worthington explained. “So I decided to develop a dad bod and that I wouldn’t care what I looked like.”
Worthington noted that his decision quickly proved “antithetical to what a studio wants when they pay X amount of dollars to make a movie about a chiseled hero.”
“My arrogance clashed with the studio and the director’s vision, and it turned into a horrible fight,” he added.
Sam Worthington inClash of the Titans(2010).Warner Bros Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock
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Worthington, who also opened up in the interview for the first time about hisstruggles with fame and drinkingafterAvatar’s success, admitted toVarietythat he should have checked in withWrath of the Titans' director before altering his appearance.
“I could have handled things differently, instead of showing up on the first day with a big belly,” the actor said.
A rep for director Liebesman did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Elsewhere in the cover story, Worthington noted that he “was boring myself with what I was doing” as he tried to fit a Hollywood action-star template on movies likeClash of the Titanswithout distinct backstories for his characters.
Sam Worthington.Greg Williams for Variety
Worthington toldVarietyhe felt he could not “create a character if there’s nothing there” during his post-Avatarrun.
“On theClashmovies, that was the problem,” he said. “You were getting new pages every day, and it’s too complicated.”
While Worthington acknowledged that his post-Avatarmovies involved “great big spectacles,” Worthington said he “should have been looking for movies that pried a little bit more into the human condition.”
“I was boring myself with what I was doing,” he toldVariety. “And if I’m boring myself, then I’m sure as hell going to be boring an audience.”
Avatar: The Way of Wateris in theaters Friday.
source: people.com
