I was so disappointed when I went through these photos of the London premiere of Clash of the Titans. Liam Neeson didn’t show up! Liam plays Zeus. Ralph Fiennes didn’t come either – he plays Hades, God of the Underworld. The Kraken didn’t come either! DAMN. You know who we got? Sam Worthington and a parade of people who I neither know or care about. I mean, sure, Mads Mikkelsen and Gemma Arterton were both in Bond films, so I vaguely know who they are. And I adore little Nicholas Hoult, but it’s not like he’s some huge, established hottie. I wonder why Liam and Ralph didn’t come? Did they not want to overshadow Worthington? Figuratively, because they’re so wonderful, and literally, because Worthington is a tiny man. But he’s still hardcore, right? Sam gave a recent “hardcore” interview to Collider about his role in Titans (full piece here):

Question: With all these big projects you’ve already been a part of, are you working hard to keep a personal life separate from your work?
Sam: I’m not out here to be a star. I’m out here to help tell stories. If you want to be a star, go on “Big Brother.” I came out here to help the director facilitate his vision, which is to tell these escape stories. You can write whatever you want about me in websites and newspapers, but no one really knows me. They get the idea that I’m a tough, heroic figure, but I’m a sensitive pussycat. When I do my job, I dive into these characters and try to flush something out of myself into these characters, and hopefully that translates well. But, I don’t look at any disassociation. I do movies that I would like to go and see. I think that’s a good barometer of how I choose films. I like going to these movies. Our job is to make sure the audience gets their $16 worth. That’s my job.

What were some of the physical challenges of being in this film and fighting in sandals and a dress?
Sam: I didn’t wear sandals. I wore Nikes, and I painted toes on my Nikes. I was sprinting off and doing a lot bigger stunts while they had dirt getting in their sandals and they were tripping all over the place. I was the smart one that thought ahead. We were above the clouds as well. The altitude was ridiculous. I don’t know exactly how high up we were. And, the terrain of Wales sucked. That was the worst place I’ve ever filmed. I love the Welsh and Wales is a beautiful place, but not a f-cking slate mine with the rain going up. That was tough. That is the entrance to the Underworld. You know you’re in trouble when everyone around you on set is wearing a hard hat and things are falling off while you’re just standing there in your dress. And, shooting underwater was harder than I thought. Underwater is tough. I thought it would be easy. It slows everything done. It times everything by two. It’s weird. Screw doing The Abyss. I don’t know how Jim Cameron did it ’cause underwater is a hard place to film. That’s only 20 or 35 seconds of film, but that took us at least four days.

Were you familiar with the stories of Greek mythology before making this film?
Sam: I don’t know about in America or anywhere else, but in Australia we grow up learning the myths, like the Minotaur and the maze, and things like that. But, I didn’t really study Greek mythology for this film. This is a fun ride. It’s me in a dress with a couple of guys in dresses, with rubber swords, fighting monsters. It’s not a history lesson. I’m a big believer in that, so I didn’t really look deep into the old Perseus because he wore no clothes. I think that would have been quite horrific for young kids. We were well aware of them, but ours isn’t a history lesson.

What is your definition of a hero?
Sam: Heroic is not fighting. It’s actually getting back up off the canvas. Or, if someone else gets knocked down, you help them up. That’s how I look at it. That’s my definition of a hero. I wanted Perseus to be like a troubled adolescent. The whole movie is about family, in my book. He loses his adopted family, and he is a boisterous teen. I didn’t want him to listen to anybody. Out of that, he finds a heroic quality through finding another family, and learns to calm down and become an adult. Every movie I do has a lot of similarities. There’s a duality of man, whether it’s half-man/half-God for Clash, half-man/half-robot for Terminator or half-man/half-big blue alien for Avatar. I’m either screwed up, searching for something within myself, or I like those characters. If you have a character that has an inner conflict, like that duality can give you, and you put him in other conflicts, than you’re either a villain or a hero. Heroism doesn’t come out of what you believe you can do, but it’s how other people endow you with it. I think, by him learning to calm down and embrace this family, they then can claim that he’s a hero. That’s how I look at heroism.

How was it to work opposite Liam Neeson?
Sam: It was intimidating and I shat myself. He’s the big boy. When you’re playing with the big boys, you man up and shut up and you listen. Liam acts with such grace. He’s a gentle man and he’s an imposing force on screen. You literally go in there and it’s a learning experience. You observe what he can do on set, and he gives you advice on how to handle all this and the outside world with hopefully some sensitivity. Same with Ralph Fiennes. You just listen. These guys did Schindler’s List, and Liam did Rob Roy and Taken. Collectively, there’s 100-odd movies between them, so as far as an infant like me is concerned, you listen.

[From Collider]

Okay, so I might have to revise my opinion of Sam – he didn’t come across as dumb – like he has in other interviews. He actually seems like a halfway decent guy! Unfortunately for CB’s crush on Sam, it looks like he’s pretty attached to his girlfriend, Whats-Her-Guts McBANGS. Too bad! CB would have let Sam do some really dirty stuff “accidentally”.

Damn, Nicholas Hoult really has grown up to be very pretty, hasn’t he? Look at those eyes!

‘Clash of the Titans’ premiere in London on March 29, 2010. Credit: WENN.