LOS ANGELES?SOMEONE HAD TO ASK THE obvious question to Sam Worthington: Does he realize how lucky he is, starring in the world?s highest-grossing movie of all time? ?Excuse my language? f--king hell, I do,? he replied, laughing. ?I pinch myself every day, mate. But, you know, the pressure?s on now. I have to challenge myself and keep working hard. I have to keep my nose to the grindstone.?

Wearing a black ?Clash of the Titans? (his latest movie) hoodie and dark pants, Sam, 33, is one more engaging Australian actor?down-to-earth, self-deprecating and blessed with a sense of humor. We expect Aussies to say ?mate,? and this one does?often. This former bricklayer from Perth is 33, but he looks boyish. When he laughs, and he often did during this interview at the brand new W Hotel in Hollywood, it?s almost high-pitched, like a boy?s. Not much is known about the star of the movie that toppled ?Titanic?s? record, so we grabbed this chance to find out more about him.

Rough figure

How has that little movie directed by James Cameron, whom he calls Jim, changed his life? ?Well, mate, let?s divide $2.7 billion by 16 bucks a head,? he answered. ?Now, let?s divide that by about two or three, because people are seeing the movie two or three times, so we have a rough figure of whatever we?ve got. That?s how many people have seen my ugly head, so you get to know how many of them are recognizing me now.?

On how exactly has his life changed, the actor chuckled again and said, ?One hundred eighty degrees, man. You try to keep yourself grounded and you handle it with a lot of sensitivity. I?ve always said, ?Ride the wave,? and it puts the pressure on in a lot of ways. It forces me to keep raising the caliber of my work. I?m still an infant, but Jim has now put me in the game.?

By infant, he means that he?s a virtual newcomer in the US and international film industry. While he appeared in American films before like ?Hart?s War,? Sam didn?t make a splash until ?Terminator: Salvation? and ?Avatar.? In Australia, Sam made about 15 films in a span of 10 years.

?I was under no illusion that ?Avatar? would be the size it would be,? he admitted. ?The speed that it got embraced by audiences is still mind-blowing for me and Jim. I try to handle this roller-coaster ride with sensitivity and bite my tongue a lot. If you notice, my language is more tempered, but that?s a case of me understanding that you have a responsibility now to young kids and people. They look up to you.?

Asked if he has splurged on something special, Sam replied, ?I don?t like shopping. I find it boring. I had a heap of stuff around when I was 30. I sold it all. My mate and I bought a bicycle to get around LA quicker. It?s a cruiser with a little basket on the front and a bell. I look like the ?Wizard of Oz? chick.?

?Chick? is the last thing you?d think of Sam. He?s the newest addition to the list of manly actors from the land Down Under. We asked him, though, about the seeming tradition among Aussie actors to don a toga in films?as Perseus, he wears one in ?Clash? (he playfully lifted up the skirt during our visit to the London set last year). Russell Crowe (?Gladiator?), Mel Gibson (?Braveheart?) and Eric Bana (?Troy?) have worn skirts. ?It?s the next logical step for a young Australian actor,? he said with a smile. ?Plus, we must have good legs down there. Who knows??

Sam dismissed fighting giant scorpions and other monsters in ?Clash? as all part of the day?s work. With a grin, he revealed who he thinks had the toughest job. He said, ?Maybe the ladies who were putting on my tan, because every morning, I stand there with a paper thong. That was the hardest thing. I?ll tell you, mate, with my Christmas hams, it ain?t pretty being behind me.?

Of ?Clash,? which also stars Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson, Sam commented, ?I made this movie for my nephew, Ridley, who is 9. I do a lot of movies for him. He?s a good barometer. I played him in ?Avatar.? It was a logical step, because if, in ?Terminator,? the man was being born, in ?Avatar,? that?s him in spirit. In this movie, this is the teenager becoming the man. In some weird and wacky design, I?ve made my trilogy.?

Natalie Mark, Sam?s girlfriend, keeps him rooted. ?I?ve got a girl who keeps me grounded and normal,? he said. Asked how they met, Sam quipped with a smile, ?Quickly.?

On the issue in the last awards season that some performances in ?Avatar? were overlooked, Sam explained, ??Beowulf? is certainly different from ?Avatar,? in terms of where we took performance-capture. It all comes down to educating an industry?that, in performance-capture, it is 100 percent transferable performance from me, tangibly here, then it goes through all the bits and bytes into the computer to become a digitally rendered character. I believe that performance-capture will dominate the 21st century. Andy Serkis got an award recently where he gave a great speech talking about how the burden of a performance-capture actor is to get it out among the masses, to show people that it is acting, 100 percent. It?s not an animated version nor an enhanced performance.?

What Sam doesn?t seem sold on is his looks: ?The first time I saw myself and even now when I see myself on the screen, I marvel at the wonders of special effects, makeup and good lighting, because the person on the screen looks like a good-looking brother. I don?t have a brother, but there?s certainly one onscreen. He doesn?t look like me or what I see in the mirror in the morning. They make you look good. I?m probably the most critical person of my work than any blogger, reporter, critic or kid. I?m hypercritical.?

Worst qualities

?I could probably name my worst qualities,? he offered instead when asked what he thought were his best qualities. ?I know what I need to improve on. At the moment, the roles I?ve been picking are very stoic young men who are Everymen in their journeys. It?s about time I bring up more of my personality, don?t you think? I?m actually quite a funny dude.?

In one of his coming films, ?Last Night,? a romance drama, he probably did have fun. After all, it?s hard to be stoic around Eva Mendes and Keira Knightley. Sam said, ?Two of the most beautiful, talented women in the world with this ugly boxhead trying to seduce them. I know it?s going to be awkward for all of us to watch, to be honest.?

So, when does he visit the moon Pandora and turn blue again? ?When the boss says, ?Jump,?? he answered. ?We have no specific date. With ?Avatar,? Jim raised the bar for himself and for other filmmakers and the industry. Raising more bars is what he?s going to search for before he even undertakes ?Avatar 2.? We?ve discussed possible ideas where the story is going to go. In regards to what challenge he wishes to do, as soon as he finds it, I know I?ll get a call.?

E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com.