Sam Worthington undoubtedly has the role of his life in Avatar. In two films so far he has embodied the ex-soldier Jake Sully, who joins the Na’vi people on the distant moon Pandora. Aside from the extremely successful sci-fi series, he has hardly any major roles to show for himself. Avatar – Departing Pandora was his jackpot.
Before him, however, two well-known actors turned down the job: Matt Damon, who lost $250 million in the process. The second is named Jake Gyllenhaal. He also later regretted his decision.
Jake Gyllenhaal was set to star in Avatar
When preparations for Avatar began in the mid-noughties, Jake Gyllenhaal was among the aspiring young actors in Hollywood. Avatar studio 20th Century Fox wanted a big face for the lead role. And so director James Cameron hooked up with Gyllenhaal and Damon, although his favorite was the lesser-known Sam Worthington, as reported by the LA Time.
Gyllenhaal could have had the role. Why didn’t he want her? The answer has two parts.
Jake Gyllenhaal decided against Avatar because he wanted to play a funny character
In an interview, the now-Marvel star said he was “not ready“been when he and Cameron talked about the role.”If you don’t listen to yourself in this business, you’re going to get yourself into serious trouble.”
Disney
Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia
Cancellation reason number 2: Avatar is a pretty serious film. This sets the whole series apart from the blockbuster competition. Jake Gyllenhaal was apparently too dry at the time, because he preferred to play in the fantasy hit Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: “What made Prince of Persia different was the humor. Dastan, my character, is a hero who doesn’t take himself seriously. He’s funny and I like that about him.”
There’s a lot that can be said about Jake Sully, but he’s no joker. Nonetheless, in the end Jake Gyllenhaal would have been better off with Avatar. Prince of Persia was released about half a year after Avatar, which had already broken all records and became the most successful film in history. Prince of Person flopped. The hefty budget of 200 million US dollars was only offset by a box office result of 336 million.
But Jake Gyllenhaal learned from that defeat. From then on he chose his roles even more carefully. The up-and-coming young star has now become a sought-after character actor who can be seen again and again in large-scale productions.