Australian actor Sam Worthington seems like he came out of nowhere through the monolith of Avatar, but he’s actually a long-term success story who spent over a decade trying to make his way before he got his big break from James Cameron. After Avatar, Worthington immediately went into workaholic mode with Terminator Salvation and Clash of the Titans. After that came The Debt and a romantic drama, Last Night, in which he stars with Keira Knightley (strange pairing, right?). Currently, Worthington is doing preliminary promotional rounds for Texas Killing Fields, which also stars Jeffrey Dean Mortan and Chloe Moretz. In this Men’s Fitness interview, however, Worthington doesn’t discuss his upcoming movie or fitness, but he does reveal a few little-known tidbits, including how he climbed out of obscurity and homelessness as well as recovering from the sting of barely losing the James Bond role to Daniel Craig:

On Acting: Acting and its attendant responsibilities may seem like a craft, but it’s really a vocation. “Ultimately that’s what it is,” Worthington says. “A job. A wonderful job that I’d never put down and I’m extremely lucky to have. But it’s a job.”

On Transforming His Career: After spending his 20s struggling maintain consistent work and “p-ssing money up against the wall” when he had it, Worthington arrived at age 30 unhappy on both professional and personal fronts. He was still single. “I had to figure out who I was by myself,” he says. His solution would be too dramatic for any manual.

“I looked in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw,” he says. “So I sold the mirror.” In fact, he sold everything, from the mirror to his house. He pulled together the proceeds, jumped in his car, and headed “for the snow.” Worthington was in the mountains between Sydney and Melbourne a few weeks later when he received a call. His agent wanted him back in Sydney to tape an audition for an unnamed American project. “I worked out if it was worth spending the gas money,” he recalls, “and decided that it probably was.”

On His Attitude Towards Failure: Worthington was ready for rejection. He’d been in the United States before, as one of three final candidates in the 007 franchise’s search for Pierce Brosnan’s replacement. “It was me, Daniel Craig, and another guy,” he says. He never told anyone, and the story hit only when director Martin Campbell told the media how close Worthington had come to donning the tux. “I wasn’t going to tell them about my failures,” Worthington says. Failures mean nothing, he believes, no matter how illustrious the context.

On Changing His Fate After the call [for Avatar] came, the work began in earnest. His shifts ran up to 18 hours a day, 6 days a week. In Australia, Worthington had never forgotten the work ethic of his childhood, even when it clashed with the party ethic of young adulthood. “It didn’t matter if I’d been drinking all night; I’d still be there at 6 a.m.,” he says. “But that doesn’t work now, and it certainly didn’t work on Avatar.”

“They say that in your 20s you’re trying to work out the man that you want to be, and in your 30s you discover who he is. And warped and all, beer gut and all, brain damage and all, you just kind of go, ‘Well, this is it, and I might as well try to polish it a tiny bit.’ I’m stuck with who I am, but I can be man enough to iron out the creases.”

On Taking A Break: “I haven’t taken a break in 4 years. It’s been a nomadic existence. Now it’s time to enjoy the fruits of my labor for a little bit.” So he’ll take a quick breather and then return to work—just as he’s done his entire life. “Yeah,” he concedes. “I don’t think I’ll be gone for long.”

On Patience: Worthington points out that his and other Australians’ overnight successes usually come with a backstory of slog. “Naomi Watts says she’s a 10-years-in-the-business overnight success,” he says with a laugh. “And what about Geoffrey Rush? He was almost 50 when Shine hit.”

[From Men’s Health]

Until now, I’ve not had any strong reaction towards or against Sam Worthington, but this interview has made me really like his attitude. He’s sort of the anti-James Franco, you know? And currently, Franco isn’t exactly known for his humility or seeing acting as work but only as “art.” Methinks it’s time to turn the tide back a bit and recognize that
“art” is merely a cliché employed by the likes of Franco and Lady Gaga for their own purposes. Enough of the spoiled, pompous actors and singers and more of those who recognize entertainment not only as a job but one that they’re extremely lucky to have.

Still, do I think Worthington would’ve made a better James Bond than Daniel Craig? Oh, don’t be ridiculous.

Photos courtesy of Men’s Health