After Avatar, Sam Worthington turned to alcohol to cope. His wife Lara gave him an ultimatum.

Sam Worthington and Lara Worthington (née Bingle) have been together for almost a decade. 

But despite major public profiles in Australia and America, the couple have kept their relationship and family life very private. Only recently have they lifted the lid - whether it be on motherhood, sobriety or the challenges they've faced in keeping their three kid's faces off the Internet.

The pair first met in New York at an event, specifically a festival in Central Park. Then they began dating, first romantically linked in late 2013. 

Soon after they met, Lara said she knew marriage was on the cards.

"I said, 'Mum, I'm going to get married'. And she was like, 'What? You've just met this guy'," Lara recounted on the Kyle and Jackie O Show.

"It normally takes a long time for me to trust, but we did get married. You just know."

Sam and Lara Worthington in 2014. Image: Getty.

In December 2014, the pair married in front of just 10 of their closest family and friends.

Describing it as "very intimate", Lara said to the Kyle and Jackie O Show that they wanted something simple and family-oriented. 

"Sam and I got married nearly a year ago on the 28th of December. We just popped into Melbourne where Sam's family's from, and we just had 10 people in a house we rented. We wrote our own vows," she said.

"I was in London right beforehand so it was really cold. But I ended up finding a white Louis Vuitton dress. I was six months pregnant, so it was really chilled, I cooked lunch." 

In 2015, they had their first-born son Rocket, and then Racer came along in 2016, and River in 2020.

And over the years, Lara and Sam have chosen not to show images of their three sons' faces. For them, it came down to the fact their kids "don't have a choice" whether they're in the public eye. 

"It's definitely a choice. We love our privacy and, for our children, we decided early on to give them as much privacy as we could," Lara told Stellar Magazine.

In a new interview with Variety, Sam said he and Lara's decision to relocate from Australia to New York City wasn't just focused on their careers. Rather, the decision revolved around "stricter laws about paparazzi", meaning they could better protect their children's privacy.

As Lara said: "Sometimes our reality is difficult for them but we try hard to protect them. Both Sam and I understand it is a by-product of our profession, but taking photos of them without my consent is unacceptable. You don't get much freedom. I can't just go out, especially when he is feeding."

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A post shared by Lara Worthington (@laraworthington)

When Avatar was released in 2009, it propelled Sam to global fame.

Speaking with Variety, he said that soon after his drinking reached a concerning level and stayed that way for years to come. He explained that before a first-class flight he would down four or dive glasses of Champagne at the gate, and knew cities around the world "not in terms of neighbourhoods or monuments, but by favourite bars". 

"I couldn't see it," he said. "I thought it was normal. I didn't like who I was. Drinking helped me get through the day. They could probably smell it on me, but when they looked at me, they couldn't tell. I was still doing my job - I just don't think I was doing it very well.

"I was an emotional drunk. I got more emotional and erratic the longer I drank. I don't think I was mean, exactly, but I could be belligerent, petulant."

He said that the drinking was a culmination of Australia's ingrained drinking culture and the anxiety that came from his newfound fame. But it was Lara who managed to help him move on from drinking - via an ultimatum. 

"You can do what you want, but I don't need to be around this," she told him. It was said with love, Sam noted, not anger or disappointment, and it encouraged him to get sober, which he has been for over eight years.

Now 13 years after the first Avatar movie, the sequel is out. And Sam said he is excited to see what it brings, but also worries about the impact of newfound fame on some of the younger actors in the cast.

"I feel protective. I want these kids to know that if there's any issues or questions, they shouldn't be scared to reach out. I'm not going to offer advice if they don't want it, but I can help them navigate what happens when stardom hits them."

Watch the trailer for the Avatar: The Way of Water. Story continues below.

As for Lara, she has shared a similar sentiment, noting that with fame comes a lot of ups and downs. But she said their marriage has kept them "grounded".

"I've been through so many phases in my life and I've learnt that the people you surround yourself with are so important," she said recently.

"Good people are my go-to. I don't have to put on any facade with him [Sam], and moving to America has meant we're able to live a really normal life. In fact, he's more normal than me."

And in terms of parenthood, three kids is likely their finish point, Lara saying to Body & Soul that balance is hard enough to find on your own, let alone when you have a busy family life.

"Being a mum is the hardest job in the world. It's not a one-size-fits-all thing. I was always trying, and am still trying, to find that balance with one, and then two, and then three [kids], and then balancing everything else," she said.

"We still very much have our life, and the kids kind of come with us. I still really love having my own identity and so does my husband, so it definitely is a challenge, but a good challenge."

Feature Image: Instagram @laraworthington.

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