Sam Worthington, the star of Avatar, once auditioned to play James Bond, but didn’t get the role because – by his own admission – he was awful.
Here's the trailer for Avatar: The Way of Water to familiarise yourself with his work.
The 46-year-old actor went on to have a decent career in the end to say the least, given that Avatar has become one of the biggest films ever to exist, but saying that you managed to bag the James Bond gig would be nice, wouldn’t it?
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Well, just before Daniel Craig got the role of 007 in 2006, Worthington cast his hat into the ring to become the martini-swilling secret agent, eventually failing to get the part and – it seems – slightly embarrassing himself in the process.
Speaking on the radio, Worthington told Nova FM's Fitzy and Wippa that he showed up for a screen test in which he was supposed to act out a scene.
He said: “So you [have to] walk in, and there’s the girl in the bed.
“You charm her… And I couldn’t get the killer of Bond down, I just couldn’t get the charm, I couldn’t charm her.
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“The suit didn’t fit man.”
Well, only a handful of people have every worn it, to be fair.
Another thing that held the British-Australian down was that he couldn’t properly do the RP British accent.
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It never really bothered proud Sean Connery, and he’s one of the best to ever do it.
Pierce Brosnan managed to overcome his own Irish accent to do it, too.
Still, Worthington spoke about how – despite both his parents being English – the accent was a bridge too far.
He said: “I said, ‘If I do an Australian I’m gonna be the next George Lazenby.'”
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For the non-Bond enthusiasts out there, Lazenby was an Australian as well, only donning the famous tuxedo for On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.
Worthington continued: “He only did one and I didn’t want to be like that. So I tried British. It was awful.”
Always be yourself, Sam.
Describing his accent as ‘laughable’, he added: “I sounded like Dick Van Dyke from Mary Poppins.
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“I remember [director] Martin [Campbell] going, ‘Just do your normal voice. It’s all cool man.’”
In the end, it probably wouldn’t have mattered, as Daniel Craig got the job and performed admirably for five films, finishing after No Time To Die.
As for Worthington, he bagged the role in Avatar, then reprised that role in Avatar: The Way of Water this year.
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In the end, we always remember the times we don’t get the job though, don’t we?
Just ask Matt Damon – he famously turned down Worthington’s role in Avatar despite being offered 10 percent of the film’s overall profits.
Now THAT is a mistake worth regretting.
Topics: Celebrity, Film and TV, James Bond
Tom Wood