Sam Worthington And James Cameron Have Worked Together For Years, But One Key ‘Puking’ Memory Stands Out

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James Cameron and Sam Worthington share a unique working relationship. As the director and star of the massive Avatar franchise, they’ve built a strong bond of trust, especially considering the complex visual effects involved in making the films. They’ve collaborated closely for many years – even throughout the long development process of the first Avatar movie. Interestingly, a memorable moment they both recall is when Sam Worthington actually threw up into the camera attached to his headset while on set.

Before the release of Avatar: Fire And Ash, James Cameron and Sam Worthington spoke with Deadline after a screening. During a conversation about their strong working relationship, a surprising memory came up. Worthington initially had trouble recalling a specific moment that stood out – after all, they’ve spent roughly seven or eight years working together over the past two decades – but Cameron helped jog his memory.

I feel it was when you puked on the head rig camera.

Sam Worthington shared that working with James Cameron means paying close attention to detail. He explained that if a scene calls for a character to react to a bad taste, the most effective approach is for the actor to actually taste something unpleasant to create a genuine reaction.

Worthington and Cameron described an event that occurred, but didn’t say exactly when it happened or which Avatar film it involved.

  • Sam Worthington: I think the scene involved me having to drink something that was described as disgusting. So I said to Jim, ‘Well, you got to just give me something disgusting.’ I think he mixed a concoction of fish oil?
  • James Cameron: Yeah, no, we went and got some Vietnamese fish sauce. Like, ‘All right, this is going to set him back.’

Filming a scene where Jake Sully had to drink something unpleasant presented a challenge, and the solution ended up being too effective. Sam Worthington genuinely disliked the taste of the Vietnamese fish sauce he was given, but James Cameron hadn’t anticipated the actor’s immediate reaction – the liquid almost instantly came back up. Worthington later commented,

Okay, so I tried this stuff, and it did exactly what we hoped – it was truly awful. But it was so disgusting, it basically exploded out of my mouth! Luckily, we had a head cam rolling, so we got the whole thing… which meant the liquid ended up all over the camera. And then, things got worse – the camera actually started to smolder! I totally panicked and ran around like a maniac, completely forgetting I could just take the helmet off. Seriously, all I needed to do was unclip it!

James Cameron and Sam Worthington admit this behind-the-scenes moment from making the Avatar films wasn’t elegant, but it perfectly captures the team’s hard work and resourceful problem-solving, making it a memorable experience for both of them.

The new movie, Avatar: Fire And Ash, is out in theaters now and had a very successful opening weekend. You can expect to find more coverage of it on TopMob in the coming weeks.

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2025-12-22 16:08