‘Avatar’ Star Sam Worthington Reveals Why He Chose To Live in His Car Before Landing Lead Role in James Cameron Trilogy

Australian actor Sam Worthington has revealed why he made the decision to move into his car in a bid to "clear his head," just as his on-screen career was beginning to take off.

Worthington, 49, shot to international stardom after landing the role of Jake Sully in director James Cameron's epic "Avatar" trilogy, which also features the likes of Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, and Michelle Rodriguez.

But not long before he got the call to audition for that career-making part, the actor—who was raised in Warnbro in Western Australia—was struggling to find his true identity within the industry, even after securing the 2004 Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor for his role in the romantic drama "Somersault."

"After 'Somersault' came out in 2004, we won all 13 categories in which it was nominated at the Australian Film Institute Awards," Worthington recalled to The Wall Street Journal. "I was 28 and had won best actor."

Yet the success didn't go to his head—in fact, it did the opposite, with the actor admitting that he found himself, one year later, still searching for something that he didn't believe he would be able to find while settled at home. So, he sold all of his belongings, packed up, and began living in his red Toyota hatchback.

"About a year later, I looked in my mirror and didn’t feel fulfilled. I sold everything, including the mirror," he revealed, "lived in my red Toyota hatchback by choice, to clear my head."

The actor previously told Variety that he had begun struggling with his growing fame, particularly when it came to being recognized out in public, something that he found difficult to handle.

"I needed to get the heck out. I was living in Sydney, and every time I would go to the bar, people would recognize me. I was rebelling against that," he told the outlet.

Worthington continued to audition for roles, both in his native Australia and in the U.S., having been advised by his "mentor" and countryman, Russell Crowe, to split his time between the two countries. It was then that the opportunity to audition for "Avatar" arose, although the actor initially had no idea how much of a career-making movie it would turn out to be, because they were unwilling to share any details about the project.

"In the late 2000s, my agent lined up a film audition, but when I arrived, they couldn’t tell me about the role, the director or the plot. I wasn’t happy," he admitted.

It would be another year of auditions before the full scope of the project was revealed to Worthington—who praised Cameron for his unwavering support throughout that process, noting that the director "backed me all the way."

The first of the three movies in the "Avatar" franchise began filming in 2007 on a soundstage in Playa Vista, although Cameron made his cast travel to Hawaii before production began so that they could learn what it was like to survive and live in a rainforest environment.

"We did a sense-memory experiment in Hawaii. We trekked around the rainforest for three days, building campfires and cooking fish, trying to live tribally," he revealed in 2009 when the first movie was released.

"Avatar" would turn out to be a jaw-dropping success, smashing multiple box office records and becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, beating "Titanic" by close to $1 billion, although it later lost that title to "Avengers: Endgame."

Following the premiere of the movie, Worthington's star began to rise in Hollywood—and he followed the first "Avatar" film with several roles in major projects, including parts in "The Titan" and "Wrath of the Titans."

In 2014, he wed his wife, Australian model Lara Worthington, with whom he now shares three children: Rocket, 11, Racer, 9, and River, whose birthday they have never shared publicly.

The actor would return to the "Avatar" franchise in 2017, when production on both of its sequels began—with the second movie, "Avatar: The Way of Water," released in 2022, while the final installment, "Avatar: Fire and Ash," premiered at the end of 2025.

Though they did not quite match the success of the original film, both movies were considered box office hits and helped to cement the actor's status as one of Hollywood's leading male stars.

But Worthington told The Wall Street Journal that his phenomenal rise to fame did not stop his soul searching journey, admitting: "Even after 'Avatar' and all of my other films, I’m still trying to figure out who I am."

Today, the actor and his wife continue to live a somewhat "nomadic" existence that hearkens back to Worthington's time spent living in his vehicle—albeit with a much more permanent base serving as their abode: a rented "double apartment" in lower Manhattan, although they do own a country house upstate.

Speaking to GQ in 2024, the actor confessed that he relishes the anonymity he's able to enjoy in New York, joking that "no one gives a s--t what I do" in the city, while he is able to enjoy friendships with people who "don't even talk about my work."

However, when he needs to escape city life, Worthington heads upstate with his family to their seven-acre spread, which boasts its own lake.

Worthington and his wife are understood to have trimmed down their property portfolio in recent years, having previously owned dwellings in Los Angeles and Hawaii, which they have since sold off.