Directors often like to recycle the same actors again and again. This makes sense when you think about it: after working with someone, you know them more intimately and if it was a good experience, why gamble on someone unknown who could turn out to be a diva? It is rare when an actor returns to the same project in a completely different role, but this is the case with Sigourney Weaver in the Avatar movies. She will be returning for the first Avatar sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water.
Avatar recap
If you saw the first film, you might be confused as to how this is even possible. In the first Avatar film Weaver played Dr. Grace Augustine, a xenobotanist and was head of the Avatar Program. She was an icon in the scientific community because of her extensive work and research on planet Pandora, having written the definitive book on the planet’s plant life. She worked with Jake on the Avatar program and died trying to protect the Omaticaya people whom she grew to respect. Colonel Quaritch shot her and while the tribe tried to save her, she was too weak. So while this is a science fiction movie, if this character were to come back there would have to be a lot of explanation.
What we know about Avatar: The Way of Water
It has been 13 years since audiences were on the planet Pandora. The first film was a massive commercial success. It is still the highest-grossing film of all time earning a whooping $2.788bn. Director James Cameron was given the green light to create four sequel movies but delayed to give technology time to catch up to his vision. This movie utilizes underwater shots and he wanted to get them right since they were integral to the plot.
In Avatar: The Way of Water, audiences learn more about the planet of Pandora. A new clan of the Na’vi people, the Metkayina, who live around and in Pandora’s ocean are introduced. This is where those crucial underwater shots come in. The plot of the new movie focuses on the power of family. Jake, played by Sam Worthington, and Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldaña, have started their own family. Their children are Neteyam, played by Jamie Flatters, Lo’ak played by Britain Dalton, Tuktirey, played by Trinity Bliss, and the adopted teenage Kiri. Kiri is played by Weaver. Jake states in the trailer, “I know one thing. Wherever we go, this family is our fortress.”
Sigourney Weaver as Kiri
Weaver is able to play a completely different character because this one is an Avatar. But do not let that fool you into believing this was an easy role because of it. Weaver told Interview Magazine that this role was her ”biggest stretch.” Most of the details of the movie are being kept under wraps until it is released, but she did reveal some details. She goes on to say that, “I think if Jim Cameron didn’t know me really well, he wouldn’t have cast me as something as goofy as this.”
Weaver enjoys working with Cameron. She stated: “I know he’s going to present me with really unique challenges, and he’s not going to be shy about getting what he wants.” Weaver relished the demanding role. She had to “work in a completely different way to play this character, a very physical way.” She had to train hard in order to play this role in parkour and freediving. She can now hold her breath for six and a half minutes. She stated excitedly, “Don’t you love these jobs where you have to learn some really outlandish thing that you keep with you for the rest of your life? Freediving, especially, I’m grateful that we spent a year doing that.”
Avatar: The Way of Water will be released in the United States only in theaters on December 16, 2022. For a refresher, go see the first Avatar movie which is currently in theaters ahead of the sequel.