Let the Clash Begin!!!
From “Avatar” to “Clash of the Titans”
 Sam Worthington is One Tough Dude

In “Clash of the Titans,” the ultimate struggle for power pits men against kings and kings against gods.  But the war between the gods themselves could destroy the world.  Born of a god but raised as a man, Perseus (Sam Worthington) is helpless to save his family from Hades (Ralph Fiennes), vengeful god of the underworld.  

With nothing left to lose, Perseus volunteers to lead a dangerous mission to defeat Hades before he can seize power from Zeus (Liam Neeson) and unleash hell on earth.  Leading a daring band of warriors, Perseus sets off on a perilous journey deep into forbidden worlds.  Battling unholy demons and fearsome beasts, he will only survive if he can accept his power as a god, defy his fate and create his own destiny.

“Clash of the Titans” is directed by Louis Leterrier (“The Incredible Hulk”).  The cast includes Australian actor Sam Worthington (“Terminator Salvation,” “Avatar”) as Perseus, the mortal son of Zeus, king of the gods.  Academy Award® nominee Liam Neeson (“Taken,” “Schindler’s List”) takes on the role of the mighty Zeus, and Academy Award® nominee Ralph Fiennes (the “Harry Potter” films, “The English Patient”) plays the role of Hades, god of the underworld, who feeds on human fear.  

Rounding out the cast is Gemma Arterton (“Quantum of Solace”) as Io, Perseus’ mysterious spiritual guide throughout his journey; Mads Mikkelsen (“Casino Royale”) as Draco, who takes up his sword to join Perseus’ quest; Jason Flemyng (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”) as Acrisius, a one-time king turned hideous beast; and Alexa Davalos (“Defiance”) as Andromeda, a princess doomed to lose her life if Perseus does not succeed.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents “Clash of the Titans,” opening April 2. 

Recently, I sat with the star of this spectacular film in Los Angeles--

Sandra Varner (Talk2SV):  How familiar were you with Greek mythology before making this film?

Sam Worthington:  Well, I don’t know about America, but in Australia we grew up learning about the myths – the Minotaur and the Maze and things like that; but, I didn’t really look at studying Greek mythology to prepare for this film. No bones, it’s 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. And, I’m a big believer in that so I didn’t really look deep into the old Perseus (character) because he wore no clothes.  I think that would be quite horrific for young kids. But, we were well aware of the characters and as I said, it’s not a history lesson anyway.

Talk2SV:  Your last films have been high-impact with special effects; do you prefer these kinds of films versus dramatic types, no special effects?

Worthington: I think any acting is a stretch of the imagination, that’s the job. Acting is truth in imaginary circumstances and you (the actor) are striving for absolute truth in an imaginary circumstance.  The good thing about this film is that we learned from the lessons of Avatar and since we can’t act with nothing, it’s impossible.  Plus your body reacts differently.  If you’re hitting something that’s not there your muscles don’t react. So, in this film, we talked to the director about making every kind of special effect or visual effect that was going to be in the movie. 

Talk2SV:  How do you define “a hero?”

Worthington:  Two things, heroic is not fighting, it’s if you’re getting up, getting back up off the canvas or if someone else gets knocked down you helping them up. That’s how I look at it, my definition of a hero. My character in this film is Perseus and I wanted him to be like a troublesome adolescent, you know.  He loses his family [and to my mind] the whole movie is about family. He loses his adoptive family and he is a boisterous teen, that’s how I wanted him to be. He doesn’t listen to anybody and out of that he finds a heroic quality through finding another family and learns to calm down and maybe become an adult.  I think every movie I do has a lot of similarities: there’s a duality of people, the duality of man, half-man, half-god, half-man, half-robot.  Avatar was half-man, half big blue alien so I’m definitely screwed up searching for something to be myself or the fact that I like that about characters and I think if you have a character that’s having a conflict, like duality can give you, and you put him in other conflicts, then two things arise. You’re a either a villain or a hero, simple as that and heroism as I said, it doesn’t come out of basically what you believe you can do but it’s however people endow you with it and 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.

Talk2SV:  What was the time-period between making Clash of The Titans 2 and Avatar? 

Worthington: I think I was still filming it to be honest.  Avatar filmed in 2007, I finished it, and there was about a 14-month period in between.  Also, I did Terminator, two other movies and had just finished Avatar, going back and forth on Avatar and kept going back and forth between those movies.  With Avatar, we kept going right up until the last minute. 

Talk2SV:  How do you compare the experience of making Avatar and Clash of The Titans?

Worthington:  You can’t. Avatar is a juggernaut, it’s its own beast, we’ve seen that at the box office and I can tell you that by filming it. You can’t compare that movie to anything. But this experience compared to say Terminator, was a lot tougher.  I thought this would be an easy cakewalk; me in a dress running around, you know?  It wasn’t because it is fast-paced and there was a lot of energy on the set; there are three cameras the whole time. In that regards and in going to various locations, it was tougher than I thought I must admit.

Talk2SV:  As a fan of the original Clash of The Titans, for me, it’s a total escape film; one that does not require any thinking or high degree of analysis.  I call it a perfect Saturday morning movie.  Given the images of the larger-than-life characters you are portraying, and, the fans embrace of these characters, are you working hard to keep your identity separate from the characters?

Worthington: I’m not out here to be a star, I’m out here to help tell stories. If you want to be a star, you’re on Big Brother on something like that.  I’m out here to help the director facilitate his vision which is to tell these escapist stories. You can write what you want about me on websites and newspapers but no one really knows me.  They perhaps get the idea that I’m a tough heroic kind of figure, I’m a sensitive pussycat and it’s a case of when I do my job, I dive into these characters and try to flesh something out of myself into these characters, sewn into the fabric of me and that translates well, hopefully.  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 mean, I’m with you, I like going to these movies and our job (as actors) is to make sure the audience gets their sixteen bucks worth; that’s my job.

Talk2SV:  Will there be an Avatar 2?

Worthington:  We have discussed Avatar II, I mean Jim (Cameron) brought it up when we were filming.  He would have ideas that related to what we were filming in the first one.  Obviously, we’re not going to go into that until Jim finds himself a challenge. He’s not the type of man that just goes into movies lightly.  Especially since he’s not going to just do a sequel to make money. We know that it’s been embraced by audiences so we’re definitely on board to undertake another one. But it’s up to Jim to find the challenge to push himself; Avatar II has to push the boundaries like Avatar did. 

Talk2SV:  Up next for you?

Worthington:  In Texas Killing Fields, I play a cop that’s influenced by true events: murders that went down in a Texas city.  I play a guy who was a real cop in an amalgamation of stories, but it’s inspired by these horrific events that happened down there.