It’s hard to believe Avatar came out 12 years ago. The James Cameron film is the highest grossing film of all time and it even beat the director’s other famous movie, Titanic. It’s one of the most popular and iconic movies that has ever been made. Even though it was released years ago, Avatar still has millions of fans now, especially since Disney owns the movie and created two new Disney World rides based on it.
The movie has always been such a huge hit because of its incredible story and visual effects that were way ahead of its time. You probably wonder how they did those visual effects and made it seem like Sam Worthington really was turning into his Na’vi avatar. Here is everything Sam did to prepare for his role as Jake Sully and how he made his character so believable.
10 It Took Months For The Filmmakers To Decide If He Was The Right One To Play Jake Sully
Sam had a hard time trying to make his career as an actor until he got casted for Avatar. He was in a few movies before then, but they were smaller roles. Avatar was the movie that made his career and it was like he was made to play the role of Jake Sully. According to Fandom, “After spending months looking at actors in the U.S. and Europe, [casting director] Simkin reported to Cameron that she found a candidate… For Cameron and Landau, Worthington was worth the wait. ‘I think one of the hardest things to find in an actor of Sam’s age is a combination of sensitivity, vulnerability and strength, and Sam has all of that,’ says Landau.”
9 He Was Homeless Before He Found Out He Was Casted
Sam was living in his car when he auditioned for Avatar. Then he got the call that changed his whole life. According to Fandom, “Even after Cameron filled him in on the story and on the character of Jake, adding an intriguing question to complete his pitch to the actor—’Are you ready to start the adventure?’—Worthington had one earthbound priority to fulfill before beginning his journey to Pandora. ‘I told Jim, yes, of course I’ll join him on the adventure—but first I’ve got to get the brakes fixed on my car.’” You can tell how much he was struggling at that time from that comment he said to James Cameron. But that adventure turned into one of a lifetime and now he’s a famous actor with a net worth of $30 million.
8 He Spent Time With A Former Marine To Prepare For The Role
Everyone else received special physical and weapons training. While Sam did train physically, he wanted to prepare mentally for the role as well. He said, “I didn’t want my prep to be like boot camp. Anyone can do push-ups. I hung out with Jim’s brother, John David, a former Marine. To me it was more about capturing the way these Marines see the world—and how their training can make them think they’re unstoppable.”
7 He Went To Hawaii To “Connect With Nature”
Along with hanging out with a former marine, he went to Hawaii with his co-workers to prepare for the role too. “The director explained that the Australian actor went to Hawaii to ‘connect with nature’ ahead of filming, and perhaps went a little too far,” according to The Independent. He wanted his transition into the Na’vi to be authentic and be able to appreciate nature in the same way they do.
6 His Method Acting Went A Little Too Far
While Sam was in Hawaii researching for the role, he really got into character. So much that he almost shot a dog with an arrow. In an interview with Variety, James Cameron said, “He’s wearing this strap-on wig that looked ridiculous with kind of a chinstrap and he’s got a bow and arrow and he comes around a bend in the path and he comes out onto the path and there’s a guy walking his poodle. And Sam just instinctively draws his bow and almost shoots the poodle. He was so in character. The guy said, ‘What are you doing?’ and Sam says, ‘We’re making a movie, mate!’”
5 He Spent Days In The Forest To Learn How The Na’vi Would Live
Not only did Sam really get into character when he was in Hawaii, he also learned how to live like a Na’vi. James Cameron told Variety, “We spent about three days in the forest. We were cleaning fish, cutting fruits, and preparing meals. Zoe [Saldana] cooked dinner in the ground one night. I think it was just invaluable for the actors to get a feeling of just how to move and what it would be like to live that close to nature.” This must be why he was able to portray the Na’vi version of his character so well.
4 He Had To Wear A Motion Capture Suit
All of the time Sam spent in Hawaii “connecting to nature” was so he could better imagine moving around in a forest when he was on set. Him and the other actors had to wear motion capture suits so their Na’vi characters moved the same way on screen. According to Variety, “Cameron required his cast to imagine that the sound stages where they were doing much of the production were, in fact, dense rainforests and floating mountains. He used ‘performance capture technology’ to film the actors and then digitally transform them into the blue-skinned, long-limbed Na’vi.”
3 He Sat On Wood For The Flying Scenes
Since the flying banshee scenes had to be completely animated, Sam and the other actors had to sit on wood and pretend it was a banshee. Sigourney Weaver (who plays Grace Augustine) told Variety, “We did have a wooden form not unlike a horse [for the Ikran] that would be up in the air and it was very practical and also certainly gave one the feeling of being free up in the sky and diving. We’re not going to float the actors up 30 feet in the air, but all of those movements could be experienced and captured not that far off the ground.” Moving wood isn’t exactly the same as a banshee, but it shows how talented the actors are since it looked believable on screen.
2 He Used Prosthetics To Make It Look Like He Was Actually Paralyzed
Sam doesn’t use a wheelchair in real life, so the filmmakers had to make him look like he’s actually paralyzed in the movie. Instead of using CGI they used prosthetics to make his legs look skinnier. James Cameron told Entertainment Weekly, "John Rosengrant at Stan Winston's studio took a mold from the legs of a paraplegic who had about Sam's skeletal size, and then we created rubber legs. Sam's actual legs are tucked down through the chair."
1 His Role Caused Some Controversy But Got Mostly Positive Reviews
The movie already caused some controversy since a few people believe it’s based on politics, but Sam’s role as Jake Sully caused controversy in another way. Disabled viewers had different opinions on Sam playing a paraplegic character. Some viewers thought it wasn’t authentic since he’s not disabled in real life, but others loved that there was a disabled lead character in an action movie. Most movies portray harmful stereotypes about disabled people and portray them as being helpless or unlucky to have a disability. But Avatar doesn’t do that. While Sam’s portrayal of Jake Sully had some inaccuracies, it was still amazing to see a disabled lead character in an iconic movie like Avatar.