Photo: Marc Piasecki/WireImage
Sigourney Weaverdoesn’t think she would have been cast as a teenager in Avatar: The Way of Water if she andJames Cameronwere not already friends.
Weaver, 72, called her upcoming role as Kiri, the Na’vi adopted daughter ofAvatarprotagonists Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña), “goofy” in a recent discussion withElizabeth BanksforInterview Magazine.
“SoAvatarI can’t really talk about, but I would say that it’s the biggest stretch I get to play in every possible way,” Weaver told Banks, 48, in the published discussion. “I think if Jim Cameron didn’t know me really well, he wouldn’t have cast me as something as goofy as this.”
“I had to work in a completely different way to play this character, a very physical way,” she added.
Cameron, 68, toldEmpirein January that “as an acting challenge, it’s big” for Weaver.
“We’re gonna have a 60-something actor playing a character [decades younger than] her actual biological age,” he said. “Sig thought it was all kinds of fun.”
“Sigourney just became younger,” Cameron added about filmingAvatar: The Way of Water. “She looked younger, she had more energy, and she never quite stepped out of Kiri for our whole capture period. She had a glow on her face and lightness in her step and a fun spirit.”
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In theInterview Magazineconversation with Banks, Weaver opened up about having “five projects coming out” in the near future, including theAvatarsequel.
“What’s the goal going forward?” asked Banks, 48, who stars alongside Weaver inCall Jane, out Oct. 28. “I guess my point is I don’t think you’re retiring anytime soon.”
“I would hope not, because I probably enjoy it more now than ever,” Weaver replied. “I’m fine that I might be the oldest person on the set. Yes, I always have to go through a period of, ‘Oh my god, it’s happening again.’ "
Added the three-timeOscarnominee, “But then, I get the joy and the explosion of letting this person out to live. And it’s the most exhilarating thing in the world.”
Avatar: The Way of Wateris set to hit theaters Dec. 16, with three more untitled sequels expected in 2024, 2026 and 2028. 20th Century Studios will also re-release the originalAvatarin theaters on Sept. 23.
source: people.com
