With his 3D sci-fi trailblazer James Cameron, or Mr Titanic, is in the record books again as the director of the most successful movie of all time - and SAM WORTHINGTON (33) and ZOE SALDANA (31) are riding the wave of superstardom with him.
The film about the three-metre-tall blue creatures and their endangered planet has smashed Titanic’s record as the movie that has grossed the most money, and the celebrations are far from over. Weeks after the film opened in South Africa people still had to book days in advance to see the 3D version.
A Brit by birth, Sam grew up in Perth, Australia, and left school at 17. He worked as a bricklayer, among other jobs.
When he was 19 his girlfriend auditioned at a prestigious drama school. Sam supported her all the way - then he, not she, ended up landing a place at the school.
In the next decade landed roles in movies and TV productions, although he’d arrived for work with a hangover on more than one occasion.
But shortly after his 30th birthday he auctioned virtually everything and with a bag of clothes, a few books and R15 000 to his name he began drifting, sleeping at friends or in his car. Then his agent phoned about an audition. A week later James Cameron phoned personally to say he was expected in Los Angeles for auditions.
Sam says he wasn’t intimidated by the film’s technological edge. Neither was he fazed doing his scenes painted blue and dressed in a loincloth. And thanks to Avatar he’s now so busy he can’t keep up.
Like Sam, Zoe has acted for 10 years but since James Cameron cast her in the blockbuster offers of work have poured in. In the next few months four films will be released with her in the lead role.
Her career kicked off in 1999 with a small role in an episode of TV series Law & Order. A year later she landed the part of a ballet dancer in the movie Centre Stage. Roles in Crossroads and Pirates of the Caribbean followed.
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