James Cameron and Zoe Saldaña Reveal What Makes Sam Worthington 'Unlike Many Leading Men’
This is an excerpt from Sam Worthington's feature story in the 2025 Men's Journal Fitness Special.
If there are three people who fully understand the weight and history of Avatar, it's James Cameron, Sam Worthington, and Zoe Saldaña. The trio, one director and two fantastic actors, have been giving us the heart and soul of the planet Pandora since 2009. Moreover, as Saldaña and Cameron reveal, two decades of filming has forged a deep connection.
Ahead of the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, Saldaña and Cameron spoke to Men's Journal about why Worthington is such a unique leading man, and what they've learned from making three Avatar movies together.
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John Russo
"Sam and I have worked together for almost two decades, and there’s a bond that develops when you're doing work opposite someone in a volume as we do on the Avatar films," Saldaña says. "It gives us the ability to utilize our bodies, our voices, any expression or movements—basically our essence—to fully realize our characters."
Saldaña is also reflective on the nature of this particular film, especially the fact that a huge aspect of the movie begins with the characters experiencing grief.
"Jake and Neytiri are both feeling displaced and outcast, but they share an emotional bond, and over the course of the film, they learn the importance of sticking together," she says. "In addition to playing parents on screen, we both have three boys back home, so our parental instincts are totally in sync. We understand the need to protect our kids and family. When you have children of your own, their lives take precedence over your own."
Cameron is also quick to point out that Worthington's own lived experience as a father made the performances in Fire and Ash more believable and more sensitive.
"Just as Jake has been tempered and rendered wiser by the experience of fatherhood, so has Sam,” the Avatar director says. "He’s unlike many action leading men—utterly unafraid to be vulnerable, to cry, to bare his soul."
Some like to write off the Avatar movies as big VFX spectacles, but Worthington and Saldaña give sensitive and raw performances. And, as Saldaña points out, Fire and Ash is even heavier and more emotional than the previous films.
"If you thought Way of Water was big and impactful, wait until you see Fire and Ash," she says. "There’s a lot more drama, and a lot of grief the Sullys are going through. While shooting these hard scenes, Sam and I were extremely supportive of each other. We talked through and leaned on the trust and friendship we’ve developed. We’ve built a safe space to be vulnerable around each other, and it’s led to a great sense of honor and respect."