Sam Worthington has carved out a new career as a Hollywood action hero. You might not recognize him in Avatar, the biggest movie of all time, because he was a blue alien for most of the movie. He looks more like himself in Terminator Salvation and this week’s Clash of the Titans, but don’t believe he’s the tough guy he plays in these movies.

“I believe a character should be part of yourself, so you bring it out of yourself so it lives in the fabric of your skin for a bit,” Worthington said. “I remember when I was doing the Terminator press, [journalists said], ‘Sam was an angry young man. He’s all jaded.’ I wasn’t intimidated by you. I was playing Perseus killing sh** every day. It goes into your being so it’s a difficult process and that’s how I work.”

In the remake of the Harry Hamlin/Lawrence Olivier classic, Worthington plays the leader of a gang of humans fighting monsters unleashed by the Greek gods. To Worthington, it doesn’t take epic battles to make a real life hero. 

“Heroic is not fighting. It’s actually getting back up off the canvas. Or, if someone else gets knocked down, you help them up. That’s how I look at it. That’s my definition of a hero. I wanted Perseus to be like a troubled adolescent. The whole movie is about family, in my book. He loses his adopted family, and he is a boisterous teen. I didn’t want him to listen to anybody. Out of that, he finds a heroic quality through finding another family, and learns to calm down and become an adult. Heroism doesn’t come out of what you believe you can do, but it’s how other people endow you with it. I think, by him learning to calm down and embrace this family, they then can claim that he’s a hero. That’s how I look at heroism.”

It’s not about fame either for Worthington, even though he’s getting mighty famous now. “I’m not out here to be a star. I’m out here to help tell stories. You can write whatever you want about me in websites and newspapers, but no one really knows me. They get the idea that I’m a tough, heroic figure, but I’m a sensitive pussycat. When I do my job, I dive into these characters and try to flush something out of myself into these characters, and hopefully that translates well.”

Clash of the Titans opens Friday.

Clash of the Titans Gallery