The stars of James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” including Zoe Saldaña (Neytiri), Sam Worthington (Jake), Kate Winslet (Ronal), Sigourney Weaver (Kiri) and Stephen Lang (Quaritch) discuss the “Avatar” sequel in this interview with CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell. Zoe and Sam have hilarious reactions to finding out how many movies they've been in since 2009's "Avatar," Kate talks about what makes her and James Cameron get along so well and much more.
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00:00 You have been in 22 different films since the first Avatar.
00:03 The one where 21 and 1 never came out.
00:05 [LAUGHTER]
00:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:11 Do you guys know how many movies you each have been
00:14 in since the first Avatar film?
00:16 Oh, no.
00:17 No.
00:18 [LAUGHTER]
00:19 No.
00:20 You have been in 24 movies--
00:22 Wow.
00:22 --since that.
00:23 And I was trying not to work because I kept thinking
00:25 Avatar is going to start.
00:27 Right.
00:28 I want to be ready.
00:30 You know, I want to be in good shape and everything.
00:32 So that's quite amazing.
00:33 38 different films.
00:35 38 films.
00:36 Does it feel that way?
00:37 Yeah, I don't-- yeah, I don't know how it feels.
00:40 I mean, you know, they're like footsteps in a block of ice
00:44 on a hot day.
00:45 They just kind of disappear in time to me, you know?
00:49 Have I been in any good ones?
00:50 Terrific ones.
00:51 38 terrific films.
00:52 I love it.
00:53 Yes.
00:54 Each one a winner.
00:55 You have been in 22 different films
00:57 since the first Avatar.
00:58 That's a lot.
00:59 And you have been in 25 different films--
01:00 Oh my god.
01:01 --since the first Avatar.
01:02 Jesus.
01:03 So--
01:04 A lot.
01:05 A lot.
01:06 Does it feel that way?
01:07 No.
01:07 No, I thought it was only like five.
01:10 Don't worry, 21 and 1 never came out.
01:12 [LAUGHTER]
01:15 But there's a great level of gratitude.
01:19 And I know I'm speaking for Sam as well in that sense.
01:23 The Avatar experience has been a gift that keeps on giving.
01:27 It's not just the opportunities that it
01:29 made for us in our careers, but also just
01:33 how we evolved as people.
01:36 It goes to show how important it is for young people
01:40 to meet their role models, to work with their idols,
01:43 and to learn from them.
01:45 I knew James Cameron before I even knew his face.
01:48 I saw it in Ellen Ripley.
01:50 I saw it in Sarah Connor.
01:52 And these were the heroines that I held on to
01:54 when I was six years old.
01:55 And my environment didn't see me or represent me
01:58 by my gender, by my race.
02:00 But if it wasn't for these characters that he created--
02:03 and they're the reason as to why I ended up being an actor.
02:06 And then the fact that the destiny and our journeys
02:10 brought us together, it's kismet.
02:12 So I was never going to let that opportunity go by and not
02:17 reap the benefit and learn from it and grow.
02:20 The fact that we're able to come back again,
02:22 that just feels like it's too much.
02:24 It's like, that never happened.
02:26 I was not ready for this movie as a parent.
02:29 Well, I haven't seen it.
02:30 OK.
02:32 So I'm very excited I'm seeing it on Tuesday night.
02:34 Can't wait.
02:35 How old are your children?
02:36 They are 18 and 14.
02:38 Ah, wow.
02:38 OK.
02:39 And it packs a wallop.
02:40 OK, good.
02:42 I think that was probably the intention.
02:43 Yes, I think so.
02:44 So brace yourself for it.
02:45 Good.
02:46 I'm curious if you wish Mr. Cameron had
02:49 the tech that's available to him now back on Titanic.
02:52 I think he probably wishes he'd had the tech that he
02:55 has invented and created.
02:56 He's done all of this.
02:58 Yes, Titanic for Jim, I think, must
03:01 have been such a terrifying experience, because a lot
03:04 of what he was implementing, I'm sure to a certain extent,
03:07 was a bit experimental.
03:09 And there was no room for error.
03:11 My god.
03:11 I mean, it was all on him.
03:13 But the way that he has evolved and the things
03:16 that he has done technically since then are just phenomenal.
03:20 And being part of Avatar and really seeing that firsthand
03:23 and experiencing it and witnessing
03:26 the level at which he works and the performances
03:29 by the other actors and what they created with the first one
03:31 and were able to share with me, it was an amazing experience.
03:34 I want to talk about him as a screenwriter, though,
03:36 because you are one of the female protagonists
03:37 that he writes so well.
03:39 Yes.
03:39 What's different about his screenplays and the characters
03:41 that he hands to you?
03:43 Well, I think they go hand in hand.
03:47 His screenplays are so powerful, and always because at the heart
03:53 is a strong woman.
03:54 And it's not just that that woman is emotionally strong.
03:57 She's physically strong.
03:58 She's resilient.
03:58 She's a leader.
03:59 She's capable.
04:00 She's loving.
04:01 She's welcoming.
04:02 She's kind.
04:03 She's compassionate.
04:04 And Avatar is just full of female characters like that.
04:07 And that's the world I want to live in.
04:10 That's the mother I want to always be.
04:13 So I was very inspired by those themes,
04:16 because they really do underpin the narrative.
04:18 They really do pull the audience in.
04:21 And that's the reason that this story, I think,
04:24 is going to resonate so much, is because we need family.
04:26 We need community like that.
04:28 The way of water connects all things.
04:36 I need you with me.
04:40 And I need you to be strong.
04:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:45 Stronghold.
04:52 Zoe, you are Mama Bear in this movie.
04:54 And I love it.
04:55 I love it so much.
04:56 And it leads to some really intense scenes
04:57 in the back half of the movie.
04:59 I'm curious how you worked yourself up to those,
05:00 and more importantly, how you came down after those scenes.
05:04 It's funny.
05:04 I was just sharing this with Jim.
05:06 It was the first time I've seen him in a minute.
05:08 And I felt in Avatar, Way of Water,
05:15 Neytiri challenged me the most, because Neytiri
05:18 was challenged the most.
05:20 The first time, she's just fighting what's in her heart.
05:25 And it's just love.
05:26 She's falling in love.
05:27 She's falling into this abyss of the sensation of love
05:31 and curiosity for this other individual.
05:33 In Avatar, Way of Water, she's fighting fear.
05:37 And there's so much anger and unresolved conflict
05:41 in her heart.
05:42 And in a way, it was a very fantastic year for me
05:48 as well as a person.
05:49 And as a woman, there was just a lot going on.
05:53 And Neytiri and I felt my life were really parallel.
05:57 If it wasn't for Sam and Jake talking us off the ledge
06:02 many times.
06:03 But Jim challenged me.
06:05 He knows where this woman, this creature is.
06:09 And he knows where she needs to end up.
06:11 So we're working backwards.
06:13 And he's not even going to let me get in her way.
06:15 She has a journey that is very relatable.
06:20 She's my great-grandmother.
06:22 Neytiri's my great-grandmother, just a warrior
06:25 that had to do so much for her family,
06:28 growing up and raising a family in a time of war
06:31 and just being so tough sometimes
06:34 that she couldn't really connect with her heart.
06:36 And that's Neytiri.
06:37 But Jake is her heart.
06:40 Jake is like her rock.
06:41 And we're going to get to see throughout the transcourse
06:44 of this saga where they are and then where they end up.
06:49 And it's quite remarkable.
06:50 It's a full life.
06:52 To that end, Sam, with so much talk about the tech,
06:55 but talk about James as a screenwriter.
06:57 Like when you got the parts of Jake this time out,
06:59 what surprised you the most about the journey?
07:02 Jim's scripts are always very detailed.
07:03 They detail not only the world, obviously,
07:05 and the vision of the ecosystems and stuff.
07:09 But he's tapping into things that are very personal to him.
07:13 And that comes across in his writing.
07:15 Jim has five children.
07:16 Jim's gone through several marriages.
07:19 And I think Jim's growing as a human
07:22 and how he deals with things.
07:24 And so I think there was a lot of that
07:25 that just pinged off the page.
07:28 Plus, the guy's got a great track record of sequels,
07:31 of keeping it familiar,
07:32 but just raising the ante just that little bit.
07:34 Yeah, it's hard.
07:35 You don't bet against him.
07:36 No.
07:37 Jim Cameron's script reads very much like a novel.
07:40 It's not a conventional film script in a way.
07:45 It's very, very detailed, extremely descriptive,
07:48 which I really, really like.
07:51 When it gets into the nuance of the character,
07:53 he can do it in a word.
07:55 He's a good writer.
07:56 He says-- he'll say something like,
07:59 "The set of his jaw is granite,"
08:02 or that sounds cliched.
08:04 But he conveys things very quickly and very efficiently.
08:10 Plus, when you're working with him,
08:11 we have a pretty good understanding
08:13 of what we're talking about.
08:14 And what was your reaction to--
08:15 because from what I understand, when the script for two came,
08:18 it came with two, three, and four.
08:19 Is that correct?
08:20 And five.
08:20 Did that seem not overwhelming, but just--
08:23 were you surprised at how far his vision had gone?
08:26 No, not really, knowing Jim.
08:27 I mean, I knew that from the beginning.
08:30 I knew he wasn't going to-- we weren't going to begin work
08:32 until we-- there was--
08:34 till he had an ending, until he had the entire story laid out,
08:39 you know?
08:40 And that took a while.
08:42 But reading each one was a trip.
08:46 If you want to live here, you have to ride.
08:52 I'm wondering what your chief concern was when you heard
08:54 you were going to be going back, if you had any,
08:57 and how it was alleviated.
08:58 Well, I knew--
09:00 Jim and I had met in 2010 and kind of had lunch
09:03 and discussed the idea of creating a character who
09:07 is related to Grace Augustine, but was her own person,
09:11 her own spirit, someone who felt more
09:13 comfortable in the natural world than she does with people,
09:16 all these things.
09:17 And so they were cooking in me for a while.
09:20 And when he sent me all four scripts, which she sent all
09:23 of them at once to all of us, I was just
09:26 so excited by what he'd created, the family, the world,
09:31 the threats.
09:31 And Carrie and her friend Spider, the human boy,
09:36 they have such a special relationship.
09:39 And Carrie has such a special relationship.
09:42 So my one concern, once I read it,
09:44 was I started to reconstruct myself as a 14-year-old based
09:50 on my excruciating memories of being that age.
09:54 And the one concern I had was the voice.
09:57 And I went to a few classes at LaGuardia High School
10:02 for that age group.
10:03 And what I discovered was that there's such a range.
10:06 Some kids sound like kids.
10:08 Some kids sound like adults.
10:10 And girls and boys, all over the place.
10:13 So then I just let Carrie have the voice that she has.
10:16 And I'd check with Jim every now and then.
10:19 And he was very happy.
10:21 So that was-- I had to achieve some things
10:26 and develop them before I got to the set
10:29 to really let go and be that age.
10:32 Dad, I know you think I'm crazy.
10:36 But I feel her.
10:39 I hear her heartbeat.
10:40 So what does her heartbeat sound like?
10:45 [THUD]
10:46 [WHOOSH]
10:48 [WHOOSH]
10:50 Mighty.
10:51 When did you find your in to the character?
10:53 When did you feel you best understood her?
10:56 I think it was as soon as I sat down around a table
10:58 with all the other actors.
11:00 And we just read the script through and shared
11:04 some thoughts.
11:04 And that's when I realized, my god,
11:06 I'm walking into a world that they have created.
11:10 And I'm honored to be here.
11:12 And I felt so welcomed.
11:14 I felt so included.
11:16 It's a very, very special thing to be part of the Avatar cast.
11:20 And it's something that I will treasure forever.
11:23 There's something that we stress that I don't think
11:25 other people can understand, is that James Cameron had
11:27 the highest grossing film of all time.
11:28 And then he beat his own film.
11:30 Yeah, but that's just Jim, isn't it?
11:32 Well, I guess.
11:32 How did you feel when that happened?
11:34 Well, it's made me now think, well, OK,
11:36 so if I have got the longest breath hold of any known actor
11:42 out there so far, well, then it makes me feel like, well,
11:44 I've got to go one better.
11:45 If Jim can go one better with Avatar,
11:48 I've got to go one better with the breath hold.
11:50 Jim is just such an impressive person.
11:51 I mean, he's a genius.
11:53 And when he sets his mind to something, he's going to do it.
11:56 And he's going to do it to the best of his ability.
11:58 And I try and be a little bit like that myself.
12:02 So I'm sure that's why we get along so well.
12:04 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:08 Wherever we go, this family is our fortress.
12:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:22 (upbeat music)
12:24 (bells chiming)