Avatar: The Way of Water' Interviews - Jack Champion, Bailey Bass
The stars of James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” including Jack Champion (Spider), Bailey Bass (Tsireya), Jamie Flatters (Neteyam) and Trinity Jo-Li Bliss (Tuk), discuss the “Avatar” sequel in this interview with CinemaBlend’s Sean O’Connell. Jamie spills on the secret film club James Cameron has with Steven Spielberg and Guillermo del Toro, Jack talks about his favorite part of Spider’s arc and much more.
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00:00 - Okay, so now that it's finally coming out,
00:01 whose review is gonna mean the most to you?
00:03 - Screen junkies.
00:04 - You're supposed to say Cinema Blend.
00:06 - Cinema Blend too.
00:08 I really hope Cinema Blend likes it.
00:10 (upbeat music)
00:12 - Jamie, whose review is gonna mean the most to you
00:18 when they finally get a chance to see this?
00:19 - Guillermo del Toro giving his blessing
00:22 after Jim showing it to him was pretty special.
00:24 - That tweet?
00:25 - Yeah, yeah, exactly.
00:26 In a way it's already happened, yeah.
00:28 - I got a chance to speak with him this week.
00:30 - No way. - For Pinocchio.
00:31 - Of course, I can't wait to see that film.
00:33 - He told me he got in a lot of trouble for tweeting that.
00:35 - Oh really, no way.
00:37 Well, it meant something to the cast.
00:38 - Did it really?
00:39 - We are glad.
00:40 - Did he help with the creature design?
00:42 Did he, do you know if he gave feedback?
00:43 - Oh, I know nothing about that,
00:44 but I know that him, Jim and Spielberg
00:46 will have a secret film club and--
00:48 - Yeah, you're just really giving even more.
00:50 I don't think you're supposed to say.
00:52 - No, but they're friends.
00:53 It's part of, they visit the set
00:55 and they talk about creative ideas and yeah.
00:58 - So as long as those guys are happy with the film,
00:59 that's amazing.
01:00 - And that's golden for you.
01:01 - As long as Jim's happy with it, yeah.
01:03 - Whose review is gonna mean the most to you?
01:05 - Screen Junkies.
01:06 - Oh really?
01:07 - Yeah, because listen, I grew up on YouTube
01:09 and like Screen Junkies, I forget his name,
01:13 but he's like, he has short hair.
01:15 Is it Chris?
01:16 - Oh, I know who you're talking about.
01:17 I know who you're talking about.
01:18 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:19 Like I just, I really respect and admire
01:20 a lot of these guys 'cause I grew up watching them.
01:22 So I just hope that they really like it.
01:24 - You're supposed to say Cinema Blend.
01:25 - Bruh.
01:26 - Cinema Blend too.
01:27 - I really hope Cinema Blend likes it.
01:29 Probably likes it.
01:31 - And you?
01:32 - Same there.
01:33 And also just, I guess the people close to me,
01:35 my family, top number one would be my mom and dad.
01:39 And they got to watch it with me yesterday
01:41 and got to be there with them and as well as my cast kids.
01:45 And so.
01:47 - I also hope my family likes it.
01:48 I just put that out there.
01:49 (laughing)
01:50 I'm so respected and admire their opinion too.
01:52 - Your family's your fortress, dad.
01:53 - Yeah, my family's my fortress.
01:54 - That's what we learned.
01:55 Yes, definitely.
01:56 (dramatic music)
01:57 - Wherever we go,
01:58 this family
02:03 is our fortress.
02:07 - Jack, I love Spider.
02:08 - Thank you.
02:09 - He's a terrific, terrific character.
02:10 - Thank you.
02:10 - What was your favorite part about his arc?
02:13 - My favorite part about his arc
02:15 through the story is I think when he rediscovers
02:22 the humans, you know?
02:24 - Right.
02:26 - And he kind of rediscovers a side of him
02:29 which he's neglected for a long time.
02:32 And he kind of almost likes it in a weird way.
02:37 So he feels even more conflicted, I think.
02:40 Yeah, without saying spoilers.
02:43 - Without saying, it gets more complicated than that.
02:45 - Yeah, it definitely gets more complicated than that.
02:47 - Why do you come to us?
02:49 - The humans are returning, hunting us.
02:52 - You do not know the sea.
02:54 - We will learn your ways.
02:55 - Treat them as our brothers and sisters.
02:59 - If you want to live here, you have to rise.
03:04 - I'm a warrior like you, I'm supposed to fight.
03:08 - Natan wants to be the hero.
03:10 He wants to take on the responsibility that his dad has
03:13 and wants to be the warrior that he knows his dad is.
03:17 And I think that sort of classical hero arc
03:19 is just an amazing thing to play.
03:21 It's nice to play an adolescent
03:23 with a strong moral compass
03:24 and high amount of need for virtue.
03:28 It makes it a bit more distant from the other young guys.
03:31 - But I think a lot of kids,
03:33 I know if I saw that when I was younger,
03:34 I would have felt very seen.
03:36 So I think a lot of kids are gonna feel seen
03:38 by how specific each character is.
03:42 - Outcast, that's all they see.
03:44 - I see you.
03:47 - Bailey, what is a note that James gave you
03:51 over the course of filming
03:51 that you know you're gonna take with you moving forward?
03:54 - Acting is more about,
03:58 you'll wait more acting when you're an actor
04:04 than you'll actually get to do what you love.
04:07 And that's even like being on set.
04:08 The amount of hours that we're just sitting,
04:10 like either waiting for setups or like something goes wrong
04:13 so they need to fix it.
04:14 You know, we have to check our eye lines
04:16 and things like that.
04:17 We have to stop 'cause something was in the way.
04:19 All of that is part of the waiting.
04:21 And then the moments that we get to do
04:23 what we love is special.
04:25 So he was just telling me,
04:27 because there's a lot of waiting,
04:28 some computers did crash sometimes.
04:31 Because of that, he was, you know, at a young age,
04:34 you can get a little impatient
04:35 'cause you just wanna do it, you wanna do it.
04:37 - Of course.
04:37 - So he was telling me that a lot of it will be waiting,
04:40 but then you get to do what you love.
04:42 - I read a bit of when he was filming "Titanic"
04:44 of how like they did a scene
04:45 where an extra had to tumble down into the water.
04:48 And then he called cut and they had to raise it back up
04:51 and dry everything that had been dry.
04:54 And the extra had to change clothes and get ready.
04:56 I thought, the amount of time
04:57 that goes into these movies is staggering.
05:00 And it must be really hard then when it's time to go,
05:02 you know, to turn it on.
05:03 - But you figure out ways eventually.
05:04 But I think that was my first film.
05:06 - Okay.
05:07 - So I was really young and this is all new to me.
05:09 So I didn't, I guess, master the art of waiting.
05:13 But now, trailer naps, like I'm a pro.
05:16 - Can you describe to me how it feels
05:19 to finally see it finished?
05:21 To actually see the work and the detail that goes into it?
05:24 - Well, we filmed in performance capture.
05:27 So we were often filming in the volume or the tank
05:29 with our performance capture suits
05:30 and the 101 dots on our face.
05:32 And with Jim and just each other
05:35 building this world around us in our minds
05:37 while we were actually in a great high tech stage
05:39 or this big tank.
05:41 And then seeing it,
05:43 we watched it for the first time yesterday.
05:45 So seeing that world of Pandora,
05:48 I just never want to leave it
05:50 when the lights came up, I was like, I just, yeah.
05:53 - I mean, also I just got to give props
05:55 'cause you were eight when she,
05:56 she was seven and eight when she filmed this.
05:58 - Seven, eight, nine.
05:59 - Seven, eight, nine and she freaking killed it.
06:01 Like, you're so talented.
06:03 She's a musician, all this stuff,
06:05 like you're a future CEO.
06:07 So I'm just, she killed it.
06:08 I'm just saying.
06:09 - Thank you.
06:10 - I don't know anyone, any other seven, eight, nine year olds
06:12 that could have done a good job.
06:14 - Thank you, I'm so touched.
06:15 - Yeah, to that end,
06:17 you've both had to sit on story details
06:19 for years upon years.
06:21 Like how hard is that to just protect
06:23 the integrity of the story
06:25 from people who I'm sure want to know details?
06:28 - I think, I don't know.
06:31 Like I feel like once it,
06:32 it's like this, this like steel block in my mind
06:36 where I'm just like, you can't tell anyone.
06:39 And it's been that way for so long,
06:40 it just kind of, you know, the glue's dried.
06:43 I'm just like, all right, I'm not telling anyone.
06:45 It's just the way it is.
06:46 - Who probed you the most?
06:47 Who wanted to know the most that you had to shield?
06:50 - Definitely my friends wanted to know the most
06:53 because they knew that I was a part of this movie.
06:57 But I think also a lot of my friends are actors
07:00 or are very familiar with the business.
07:02 So they're like, we get it.
07:04 And then my mom's my best friend
07:05 and she was there the whole time.
07:06 So other than that, there's not many people to tell.
07:09 She knows it all.
07:11 - It's so exciting to finally be able to share
07:13 with everyone.
07:15 I feel like when the glue dried,
07:16 it was just like, I just, when people would ask,
07:19 I'd say, I think I forgot because it has been a long time,
07:23 but it's really exciting.
07:24 It's finally coming out.
07:25 - The way of water connects all things.
07:34 Before your birth and after your death.
07:39 (dramatic music)
07:42 (ethereal music)
07:45 (dramatic music)
07:48 (MultiCom Jingle)