Out for a romantic date night at Italian restaurant Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica on June 23, Lara Worthington, showing off her fit figure in an ab-baring Alaïa cross-body denim jacket, breezed past paparazzi as her husband, Sam, lovingly helped her into the car.
The next night, they were more prepared to pose for photographers while attending the Los Angeles premiere of Kevin Costner’s Western epic Horizon: An American Saga (Chapter 1 is in cinemas now) held at Regency Village Theatre.
Lara, 37, wowed in a cream vintage John Galliano Fall 1995 dress paired with black leather boots, while Sam, 47, who stars in the period movie, stopped for reporters on the red carpet.
“Working with Kevin Costner is a very steep learning curve,” he told Movieguide. “He’s worked with some of the greats, so I just tried to listen to the guy and help him tell his story.”
Costner, who directs and stars in the four-part movie series, told Variety in December 2022 that he empathises with Sam’s desire to dodge the spotlight when not on set.
“I’m not surprised that Sam has mixed feelings about stardom,” he said. “There’s a craving for people to know everything that they can about your politics, your marriage, your personal life.”
Inside Lara and Sam Worthington’s family
Once fiercely protective – Sam settled an alleged assault case against him over a scuffle with a photographer in New York back in 2014 – the couple are still guarded about their family life.
However, they have loosened up a little over the decade since they married in front of around 10 friends and family in a secret ceremony in Melbourne on December 28, 2014.
“I’ve tried to handle [fame] carefully,” Sam told Stellar magazine in November 2022.
“It is hard; there’s no book to tell you how to do it. There’s no set of rules. You have to decide what kind of actor you want to be and what kind of person, or celebrity, you want to be.
“No-one’s there telling you how to do it and holding your hand. You just have to figure it out … I have made a few mistakes. And that’s OK. You grow from that.”
Keeping life grounded for their sons – Rocket, 9, Racer, 7, and River, 4 – remains a priority for the pair, who moved to New York in part because the city has stricter paparazzi laws than in Los Angeles.
“We tend to try to keep our lives as normal as we can. I don’t think about that stuff ever. I don’t make it my reality,” Lara told Marie Claire Australia of the couple’s high profile in March 2023.
“My mum instilled in me that it’s important to maintain a little bit of mystery. I think it’s hard in this day and age to achieve. I’ve tried to keep things pretty close to my chest and I think there’s a certain elegance to that.”
Lara, who in 2019 rebranded her cosmetics company, The Base, to a nonprofit called Share The Base that donates 100 per cent of net proceeds to charity, has been holding down the home front while Sam continues his acting career, including filming three more Avatar movies slated to release in 2025, 2029 and 2031.
Around his family, his most important role remains clear, especially for his boys.
“At the moment, they think my job is Dad,” Sam said on The Jennifer Hudson Show in 2022. “And that’s all that matters.”
