‘Avatar: The Way of Water’: Watch Sigourney Weaver transform into 14-year-old Kiri [Exclusive Video]
20th Century Studios has provided Gold Derby with a special extended feature focusing on Sigourney Weaver’s performance in James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.” As with the original “Avatar,” Cameron’s latest is another fine example of how the Oscar-winning filmmaker uses technology to create the incredible and the impossible on screen.
In the sequel to the 2009 mega-blockbuster, the 73-year-old actress plays the teenage Na’vi Kiri, the daughter of Weaver’s “Avatar” character, Grace, who has joined the extended family of Sam Worthington’s Jake and Zoe Saldaña’s Neytiri. The feature includes never-before-seen footage from the set of Weaver performing as Kiri, as well as Cameron and Weaver’s co-stars talking about her transformation while portraying Kiri.
“I remember having lunch with Jim,” Weaver shares of how she learned about her new role. “He started to talk about this forest girl who had a special gift of connection with living things, and she’s going to be about 14. ‘You and I know how immature you are, so I think you can handle this,’” she adds with a laugh.
“When you see Sigourney playing a character a quarter of her actual age, flawlessly,” Cameron claims. “She steeped herself in the ways of teen girls, but unconsciously, she just became younger. It was crazy to observe.”
Weaver explains, “I don’t think any of us are that far away from our 14-year-old selves. It’s such a strong memory of how great it was and how awful it was, and I just sort of fell in love with the character. Jim has this amazing ability to write straight into the heart of a character.”
Producer Jon Landau also shares his thoughts on how performance capture allows actors the “opportunity to play characters they otherwise cannot play.” “Kiri’s character and Sigourney’s performance are the perfect example of that,” he notes. “Given by one of the great actresses of time.”
Weaver mentions that she had to work completely differently to portray Kiri. “You do have to strip away all of that Sigourney Weaver, whoever that is, and it has been an amazing experience to go back in time and be with that person every day.”
Worthington says that once Weaver clicked into the character, “It was like talking to a 14-year-old. I find it fascinating that she can channel this young girl,” he adds. “Whatever it is, I’m enjoying watching it.”
“She’s marvelous,” agrees Saldaña. “To watch her, it’s such a work of art. You’re watching a flower unfold and all of a sudden, you do not recognize that you’re talking to a woman that has walked this earth for decades and has made a mark.”
“There’s so clearly this mischievous little girl in Sigourney,” beams Stephen Lang, who is also back in a slightly altered version of Col. Quaritch. “She can be as imperious as you want, and she can also be a complete knucklehead.”
“It’s a big journey for her and for the audience with her,” Cameron declares, “But it’s okay, because you care about her. She has a luminous quality.”
Landau has the last word, stating, “To see [Sigourney] playing a 14-year-old kid, it’s magic. It’s what acting is all about.”
“Avatar: The Way of Water” is playing in theaters nationwide.
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