Samuel Henry John Worthington was born to English parents in Godalming, Surrey, in South East England, UK.

When he left the college, his father gave him $400 and sent him on a one-way trip to Cairns, Queensland, telling him to "work his way home".

[10] In 2009, Worthington starred in James Cameron-directed science-fiction film Avatar, in which he played the role of Jake Sully, a paraplegic former U.S. Marine who is at the centre of a war between his own species and the indigenous Na'vi people of Pandora.

[15] In the film, Worthington co-starred alongside Christian Bale and played Marcus Wright, a human-terminator hybrid.

In early 2010, Worthington appeared in Clash of the Titans, an action fantasy film directed by Louis Leterrier and produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

[16] He provided voice work for Captain Alex Mason, the protagonist in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops.

[21] Also in 2012, Worthington starred as Nick Cassidy in Man on a Ledge, a suspense-thriller film directed by Asger Leth.

[22] A loose adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel And Then There Were None, it received generally negative reviews and was a box office bomb.

[24] In 2015, Worthington starred in Paper Planes, an Australian 3D children's drama film directed by Robert Connolly.

[27] In 2016, he played Captain Jack Glover, a stern army officer, in the Mel Gibson directed biographical war film Hacksaw Ridge.

The film focuses on the World War II experiences of Desmond Doss, an American pacifist combat medic who refused to carry or use a weapon or firearm of any kind.

Hacksaw Ridge was released in the United States on November 4, 2016, grossing $180.4 million worldwide, and received critical acclaim.

That year, Worthington portrayed Jim Fitzgerald in the Discovery Channel television series Manhunt: Unabomber.

He says that he began drinking heavily as a means to cope with his loss of privacy following his increase in popularity after Avatar's release, and stopped after his wife Lara gave him an ultimatum.

[43] On 23 February 2014, Worthington was arrested in New York City for assault, after punching a paparazzo, Sheng Li, who followed Bingle to get a "perfect picture".

Video footage of the incident depicts Worthington referring to Bingle as his "wife", furthering speculation about the pair's marital status.

[44] Worthington was initially released on a desk appearance ticket, while Li was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment, assault, and harassment.