LOS ANGELES, Calif. --

Working with legendary action film director McG is an actor’s dream, and it was one which came true for Access Hollywood’s latest Rising Star, Sam Worthington, after he joined the cast of “Terminator Salvation.”

“I do every movie because of the director,” the 32-year-old Australian told Access Hollywood. “McG – he’s such an enthusiastic, passionate [director] that he was the reason I signed on.”

And it proved to be a good move. Those who have already had an advance look at the movie (which comes out in wide release on May 21 and co-stars Christian Bale and Bryce Dallas Howard) are already touting Sam as a break-out star for his role as Marcus Wright, a heroic mystery man who ends up with super-human cyborg strength, capable of helping him battle human-killing Terminators.

“He’s a scene stealer, he’s very intense and apparently the women think he’s hot,” Access Hollywood film researcher and lifelong sci-fi fan Eugene Monzon said of Sam’s role in the film. “He’s not very well known over here, but he has this magnetism that just draws you in… You really want to see where he’s going to go in the future.”

But does the Aussie actor feel like a Rising Star?

“It’s very kind,” Sam said when Access Hollywood’s Nancy O’Dell shared with him the Access honor. “It’s very nice.

“It’s better than being called the falling star, isn’t it,” he joked, deflecting attention from himself.

Hailing from Perth, the same town that spawned Heath Ledger, Sam studied at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art before making a name for himself in his homeland in a host of roles after the millennium. One of those parts, alongside Abbie Cornish in “Somersault,” caught Sam a host of critical acclaim and the attention of many of Hollywood’s elite.

Sam also had small parts in stateside productions including 2002’s “Hart’s War” alongside Bruce Willis and Colin Farrell.

But it’s “Terminator Salvation” that is set to make the handsome gent a star. Sam, however, said he isn’t feeling any pressure.

“Well, there’s only pressure if you put it on yourself,” he said. “Hopefully, what we’ve delivered is an explosive movie that kind of enhances the other three.”

In fact, even though he’s starring in one of the sci-fi genres favorite franchises, Sam said he had no trepidations about jumping in.

“I wasn’t scared at all, I think, to be part of something like this,” he said. “[It’s a] once in a lifetime opportunity so you gotta grab it with both hands.”

And Sam is showing no signs of stopping. Following “Terminator Salvation,” he’ll be back in theaters later this year in another hugely anticipated sci-fi movie, James Cameron’s “Avatar,” which also star’s “Star Trek’s” Zoe Saldana. After that, he’ll be battling it out as Perseus in a 2010 re-make of “Clash of the Titans.”

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