Every once in a while, an actor will emerge that Hollywood deems to be “the next big thing,” and the success rate is about as spotty as you’d imagine from such a lofty title. Taylor Kitsch’s back-to-back busts of John Carter and Battleship ended his chances pretty quickly in 2012, but Sam Worthington keeps on trucking.
The star’s rise from anonymity to billboards around the world was rapid to say the least, with barely anybody outside of his native Australia having even heard of him before he was suddenly sharing top billing with Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation, playing the lead role in the highest-grossing film ever made, and dragging the Clash of the Titans remake to over $500 million at the box office despite the fact it wasn’t very good.
While he’s definitely been in good movies since – with the likes of Hacksaw Ridge and Everest standing out among the pack – when he’s not reprising the role of Jake Sully in James Cameron’s Avatar sequels, Worthington can more often than not be found in the realm of bargain basement VOD action thrillers with increasing regularity.
As a result, despite his filmography including blockbusters, prestige dramas, sleeper hits, and many more that have accrued Academy Award nominations, several wins, and a cumulative haul of almost $6.5 billion from theaters, he’s been named as the number one candidate by Reddit to determine which actor in all of Tinseltown can be deemed the most “painfully mediocre.”
It’s harsh without a doubt, but on the other side of the coin, the evidence is there that it isn’t exactly untrue.
