Interview: Sam Worthington gets a second chance to play mythological action hero in "Wrath of the Titans"

SAM WORTHINGTON as Perseus in Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Legendary Pictures’ action adventure “WRATH OF THE TITANS,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Sam Worthington goes Greek again for ‘Wrath of the Titans’
The action star of “Avatar,” “Terminator: Salvation” and more relished the chance to build a better hero when he reprised the role of the mythological demi-god Perseus in the “Clash of the Titans” sequel.

LOS ANGELES — Having reclaimed his sword, sandals and mythological monster-slaying moxie, Sam Worthington feels grateful for his second chance to bring a better action hero to film fans

The Australian movie star, 35, reprises his role as the Greek demigod Perseus in “Wrath of the Titans,” the successor to the critically scorned 2010 blockbuster “Clash of the Titans.” Opening Friday, the monster- and myth-packed sequel gave Worthington an opportunity to improve on the “generic, bland, bald-headed action thing” he created for his initial “Clash.”

“I personally kind of don’t like what I did in the first one. I think I dropped the ball. I let down the audience … in the sense of I created a character that wasn’t really a character,” Worthington said during an interview earlier this year at the Four Seasons Hotel.

“He was a conduit for the story. That was it. He could’ve been played by anybody. … So in this one, I was so lucky to get a second chance, to go, ‘All right, let’s scrap Perseus. Let’s decide what kind of man he is. Let’s try to think what he’s been doing. Let’s try to create a character that an 11-year-old boy or a 30-year-old woman can look at and go “Yeah, I like that person and I want to go on this journey with them.” And (let’s) not distance the audience by being generic.’”

“Wrath of the Titans” picks up Perseus’ story 10 years after he killed the gruesome Kraken at the end of “Clash.” In the intervening decade, the hero has tried to live a quiet life as a fisherman and single father to his 10-year-old son Helius (John Bell). But a battle for supremacy is intensifying between the gods and their monstrous forefathers, the Titans. When Perseus’ father Zeus (Liam Neeson), the ruler of the gods, is betrayed by his brother Hades (Ralph Fiennes) and captured so the Titans can drain his power, Perseus must swap his fishing net for his warrior’s sword.

“I think it’s amazing. I think it’s awesome. Love it. I think it’s got big-(expletive) monsters and a lot of heart this time,” Worthington said of the sequel.

“My job is to satisfy an audience. That’s how I look at it. So I don’t kind of go into projects frivolously because that lets down the people that work hard and pay money to see my ugly head. I think that’s disrespectful.