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Speaking with ComicBook to promote the home media release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, star Oona Chaplin recalled the day she filmed the movie’s Nightwraith/Ikran fight with Zoe Saldaña. “When we shot that, obviously, we couldn’t have two of the puppets that we ride … so, we took turns,” she said. “So, Zoe was on the floor and was like [makes attacking gesture by clapping hands] and I was on the thing, and then we’d flip … it would be quite funny to see that side by side because it feels kind of ridiculous in the moment, but then you get to see it and it’s incredible.”
James Cameron’s Unique Vision Makes the Avatar Movies Work
Not only did Chaplin and Saldaña feel silly when shooting their big fight scene, Stephen Lang told us about his own awkward experience when making Avatar: Fire and Ash. He detailed how odd it was to shoot Quaritch’s confrontation with Jake Sully that takes place at the end of the film. He said it was “a difficult thing to accomplish” because the characters are jumping “from floating rock to floating rock” and there’s only so much the actors are able to do on the physical stage. It isn’t until they see the final product that they realize how awe-inspiring the films can be.
These stories are a testament to how much faith the actors have in Cameron as a director. There probably aren’t too many filmmakers who could convince their stars to roll around the floor and pretend they’re riding giant creatures while fighting, but Cameron is certainly in that category. By this point — after three Avatar movies — he’s more than earned the trust of his actors. They know that regardless of how ridiculous things may seem during production, Cameron’s unique vision will ensure it looks great on the big screen. Dating back to his work on the original Terminator decades ago, his level of craftsmanship has been unparalleled.
