Superstar GQ Man of the Year Sam Worthington is happiest just being Dad all day
In the 16th iteration of the magazine’s annual awards, Sam Worthington, the Australian star of the two Avatar box-office behemoths, opens up about filmmaking and fatherhood.
Sam Worthington doesn’t like having his photo taken. Even when it’s for the cover of GQ Australia’s Men of the Year issue. And even when it’s being taken by his wife of almost a decade, the supermodel and beauty entrepreneur Lara Worthington.
“Look, my wife is extremely creative and I love how inspiring she is,” Worthington told GQ’s editor-in-chief Jake Millar for the cover story. “But I have an involuntary, visceral reaction to getting my photo taken. She tried her best and I probably wasn’t the most willing subject.”
The resulting portfolio features on the cover of GQ’s special edition, on sale inside The Australian on December 13, and is an intimate look inside the Worthington family bubble that offers a portrait of Sam the man, as well as the movie star.
Worthington, who is arguably Australia’s most successful actor, given the billion dollar box office haul of his blockbuster franchise Avatar, spoke candidly about his greatest role – being a father to his three sons, Rocket, River and Racer. “I love being a dad,” he said. “I learn more from my boys than they learn from me.
“My boys are passionate boys and they have very strong opinions and big hearts.”
Of his wife, Worthington shared that the pair are “same but different”. “We’re both fearless, we both challenge each other, we’re both extremely passionate about each other. But we also have totally different ways of looking at the world and I learn from her and she learns from me,” he said.
Millar said he was “thrilled” to have Worthington as GQ’s Man of the Year.
Worthington, filmmaking really is his craft, and financial success was never his driving motivation. “Someone told me years ago a normal actor makes less money than a dental assistant. So if you want to make money, go and do another job,” he said. “You know going in that you’re going to have hard yards. You want to be an actor so you can get lots of money, so you get famous and have people love you and fawn over you? It’s garbage.”
The Worthingtons walked the red carpet at GQ’s annual Men of the Year celebration, presented by Defender, at Sydney’s White Bay Power Station on Wednesday night. Hosted by comedians Melanie Bracewell and Tim McDonald, the black tie gala honoured some of the magazine’s award-winners of the year, including gold medal titan Emma McKeon, sporting icon Eddie Betts, fashion designer Jeremy Hershan, and actors Felix Mallard and Sam Corlett.
GQ Men of the Year 2024 edition is on sale on Friday December 13 exclusively with The Australian
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