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Woohoo! That was Sam Worthington's emphatic, immediate reaction when asked how it felt to be Hollywood's action star of the moment. But there wasn't any hint of sarcasm when he raised both arms in a brief "I'm the king of the world" moment.
"Well, why not?" the 33-year-old Australian actor grinned, before adding matter of factly, "I'm working. I'm doing movies I like. I'm very lucky in that respect."
Lucky indeed. Last year, he was in two blockbusters, first as a cyborg opposite Christian Bale in "Terminator Salvation" and then as the most famous blue alien to hit the big screen in James Cameron's "sci-tanic" (we're still trying to popularise this word) movie "Avatar". Such back-to-back successes ensured that everyone's curiosity over the relative unknown remained constant.
And with "Clash of the Titans", the buzz over this dude with the perpetual buzz cut isn't going to die anytime soon.
In the remake of the 1981 cult movie, Worthington plays the demi-god Perseus who finds himself smack in the middle of a war between the Greek gods and humans. In order to stop the bickering gods (which include the awesome Zeus-Hades tag team of Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes) from unleashing the terrifying Kraken monster, he has to go and hunt for the Medusa with a bunch of hardened soldiers to save the world.
And who better to do that than a no-nonsense type of actor?
It was refreshing that Mr Next Big Thing - who showed up wearing a fairly worn Metallica T-shirt - seemed more like someone with whom you can knock a few beers at the local bar with than the next Johnny Depp. Even director Louis Leterrier ("The Incredible Hulk") was sceptical about hiring him at first.
"I kept saying it was really dangerous (hiring Worthington at that time) because we knew that James Cameron had been shooting this movie for four years and we were like, blue aliens? Out in space? With that guy who's never done anything? That could have been a catastrophe," he said.
"When I met Sam I was ready to be disappointed. But he's so endearing, so fragile, so strong - everything that I needed Perseus to be."
Lovely co-star Alexa Davalos, who plays the damsel in distress Andromeda, agreed: "Sam's amazing. He's so unique, so honest, which I really love. He's someone who'll tell the truth about how he feels no matter what the situation."
And he's not above being a potty mouth - but in an endearing sort of way. When co-star Gemma Arterton, who plays the mysterious-but-totally-hot Io, recounted how the pack of male actors would turn down the language in the company of the ladies, fellow actor Jason Flemyng butted in good-naturedly: "Well, not Sam. When he says 'F**kin' madam', he thinks he's being polite. (Mimicking Worthington) "Well, I said 'madam'!"
Still, no four-letter words flew our way when we sat down with the guy.
In the original movie, Perseus had less clothes on didn't he?
That's right. I tried to do no clothes. Then the boys were sort of disgusted. (Laughs) I tried to get the skirt high 'cos you've got to get the ladies in somehow!
So, how did you like wearing a skirt for the movie?
Yeah, I liked it. I can get around in one of those every day. Russell Crowe wore one in "Gladiator", Eric Bana wore one for "Troy", Mel Gibson wore one for "Braveheart". I thought it was a natural step for an Australian actor to do it! (Laughs) (But) we had it better than the gods. The gods had to be wheeled around 'cos they couldn't move! They're like C3PO! I remember looking over once and the great Liam Neeson and the majestic Ray Fiennes … up against the wall like a couple of action figures, going "Wish I was wearing the dress!"
Speaking of sartorial choices, you were in the news for wearing those $20 Payless shoes to the Oscars. And then the next thing you know, they're sold out.
Yeah, they sold out! I think it's awesome! (Laughs) The ones I was originally given made me look like a goblin. I put them on and my mate goes, you look like a penguin and J Lo's gonna stand on your feet and fall over. So we got on bicycles and went and bought a comfortable pair of shoes. And the big brouhaha about it is like a storm in a teacup. I was a young Aussie in front of guys he's grown up watching. I was thinking, "This is the coolest thing ever and I'm glad I'm wearin' comfortable shoes!"
Do you think the whole shoe thing is an indication of how popular you've become?
You try not to get too caught up in it all. It is a job that I love to do. But it IS a job. Those kinds of events, it's like going to the school ball and the cool kids saying you can come in, and you're pinching yourself saying "I'm here with Jenny from the block and my mates are watching and it's fun". (Laughs)
How was it like working on the movie?
Man, it was tougher than "Terminator". I thought it'd be easy, I thought it'd be a cakewalk. "Point me in the direction of the rubber sword!" (But) this is physically tougher. It's boisterous and fun, because the movie's meant to be boisterous and fun. We can take it seriously so nobody has to take it seriously.
This is the third Hollywood blockbuster in which you are playing a hybrid, what's up with that?
That's the thing. I'm obviously dealing with duality in myself, and that goes back to that. I'm an Australian in America, and any kind of character that has a duality, be it half-man half-god, half-man half-alien, half-man half-robot, I like that in a conflict. I've looked at all this as a trilogy in my weird wacky head. In "Terminator", he's a man who was born. "Avatar", everyone knows I played him as my nine-year-old nephew becoming a teenager. Well, this is the teenager becoming the MAN.
And right now you're the man of 3D ...
Well, I AM three-dimensional! That's the way we all are!
But not everyone's the action star of the moment. What do you think of that?
I think we only put labels like "action" in movies so we have a place to put them in the video store. Movies that I liked while growing up, like "Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom", "Die Hard" and "Back To The Future" have a little more than just action adventure there. The guys have vulnerability, pathos, humour. I'm trying to infuse the characters I do with that. I'm not just brawn!
- TODAY/sh
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