News.com.au published interview with Sam Worthington about his new film ‘Man on a Ledge’ – Can read

>> You went to Tranny Bingo at a Sydney pub the other week. Are you a fan?
A friend of mine said come down and check it out. It was good fun. I didn’t win, but.

>> Whose couch are you sleeping on this time?
I’ve got my own bed now. I live in Hawaii. I’ve got a house there.

>> On the evidence of your new film, Man on a Ledge, you’re not afraid of heights.
Falling was the only thing I was afraid of. And landing. That would have been the hard bit. The longer I was out there, the more confident I got.

>> When you stepped out on to the ledge, was it how you had imagined?
It’s weird. It’s a lot higher than your brain can imagine. It doesn’t seem real, almost. The adrenalin is trying to keep it all together, so it just looks like a weird painting.

>> How much time did you spend up and out there?
Weeks. The first time I went out there was the first time we filmed. I got lucky in that I didn’t burst into tears or curl up in a ball or something. It would have been a different start to the movie.You can’t prepare for something like that. You can’t practise.

>> The look on your face does seem pretty authentic.
I was 200 feet (61m) up in the air. It’s all real. We shot 80 per cent of the film on that ledge.

>> There must have been some kind of harness.
It’s a safety clip, so if you do slip, which happened a couple of times, or lose your footing, it just snaps like a seat belt.

>> Where’s the camera?
You had technocranes going. You had guys on the ledge with you. Guys jumping out from the ledge. The more adventurous I got, the more ambitious we all could become. So in the end you could run up and down and those guys could come with you.

>> What’s the appeal of a film in which you’re confined to one space?
The appeal overall was that it was a fun popcorn film. It’s a simple action movie where the guy is rooted to the spot.

>> You said you’d like to do a comedy with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale next.
It was just a quip to make people laugh. But I wouldn’t mind making a dance movie. My agent thinks I am nuts.

>> Haven’t you done that already with Tap Dogs?
I did a few dance scenes – they trained me up – but not as much as I would like to.

>> Is it true that for the Avatar sequel, James Cameron wants to take you under the sea?
He’s given me dive lessons and scuba gear for my birthday. I think they are all part of his master plan. I have yet to actually do them.

>> Have you asked Richard Roxburgh about going underwater on Sanctum?
I have heard stories. I am a bit cautious about underwater stuff. Not because of what’s under the water, but I find it a weird concept to breathe underwater. It’s something humans aren’t meant to do. It’s like being up on a ledge – that’s where pigeons live.

>> Talking about things people aren’t meant to do – we’ll see you reprise the role of Perseus in Wrath of the Titans in March. The first film wasn’t well received. Why go back?
I personally didn’t like what I did in the first movie. I have been very vocal about that. I think I dropped the ball. To get a chance to go back was exciting, but I also think the audience deserved it. With hindsight, I realised I could have done a lot better.

>> Are you happy with your choices post-Avatar and Terminator Salvation?
I do movies that I would like to go and see. That’s it. There’s no grand plan. You can’t formulate your career, because you don’t know what’s going to work and what isn’t. But I get something from every single one of the movies I do.

>> You said you were arrogant at the beginning of your career. What changed?
I’m growing up. I am 35. When you are 25, you think you can rule the world. When you are 35, you just go, ‘Here I am, warts and all’.

>> Does that make you a better actor?
You get a bit more courageous as you go forward. I still look at myself as an infant in this industry. But the choices you make in regard to your performance or the films you want to go and do, you become less fearful. You have to.

>> You’ve just shot Drift in WA. Do you surf in that?
I surf in some scenes. Most of the time, I don’t. I said I didn’t want to. Because it’s not about me. It’s about Myles (Pollard) and Xavier (Samuel), they are the leads and I am there to support that.

>> Xavier says he got quite good at surfing.
They all did – considering the size of the waves we were in. It was ridiculous. There were 30 foot (9m) swells we got dropped in out the back.

>> Your next project is an Iraq war movie, correct?
It’s a true story about 300 tanks that did a ‘thunder run’ through Baghdad. It’s a captivating story. But you can’t logistically do a movie that size – the budget would be prohibitive – so there’s this motion-capture way of doing it.

If it works, it’s going to be fantastic. It’s high risk, but I’d rather be part of something like that than playing it safe.