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Zoe Saldaña understands how playing a single character for an extended duration can, indeed, change a person.
It’s why the Oscar-winning actress has a deep and personal love for Na’vi warrior Neytiri, whom she has played since the inception of the Avatar franchise in 2009, set in the lush, alien world of Pandora.
“I think all of us would love to have a rebel heart like she has, and she is a young woman who, unfortunately, has had her whole life set out for her,” says the 47-year-old, who also starred in Guardians Of The Galaxy, Star Trek and Emilia Pérez.
“Neytiri is just the kind of person I want to be in terms of sticking by what you believe in, fighting for what you believe in, and trying to be yourself.
“She was the daughter of a Tsahik and an Olo’eyktan, so, basically, she was of royal blood, and with that came a big weight on her shoulders: to deliver something that she wasn’t ready for.
“And part of her having a rebel heart means that she found love in the most unconventional of places – in this human that came in the form of an avatar.”
In the third instalment, Avatar: Fire And Ash, Neytiri and her family are still living amongst the Metkayina Clan in Pandora, mourning the loss of her son Neteyam, who died in a climactic battle with the Resources Development Administration (RDA), also known as the ‘Sky People’, at the end of the second film Avatar: The Way Of Water.
But while the Sully family, also including husband and ex-marine Jake, played by Sam Worthington, daughters Kiri, played by Sigourney Weaver, and Tuk, and son Lo’ak, are each grieving in their own way, they are worried about whether Spider will be safe living with them as a human.
Following an introduction to the Tlalim Clan, also known as the Wind Traders, a peaceful nomadic air-travelling clan who sail the skies, their chief, Peylak, agrees to transport Spider back to High Camp, and the entire Sully family decides to join Spider on this journey.
However, their journey is cut short when they are attacked by members of the Mangkwan Clan, also known as the Ash People, led by Varang, played by Oona Chaplin.
The RDA, meanwhile, is struggling, following its devastating defeat at the hands of Jake and the Metkayina Clan, and is regrouping and planning its next attack.
In September 2017, filming on Avatar: The Way Of Water and Avatar: Fire And Ash began, predominantly in New Zealand, and lasted for 18 months.
“Avatar movies are not made by computers,” says Oscar-winning Canadian filmmaker James Cameron, who first gained recognition for The Terminator.
“They are made by an incredibly talented team of people – especially our actors – who physically perform every scene. I worked with my cast on The Way Of Water and Fire And Ash for almost 18 months.”
The 71-year-old, who was also behind Titanic, adds: “Every expression, every movement, every emotional beat comes from their real performances. And once we have that captured, our artists work tirelessly to bring those characters – and the entire world – to life.
“The performances have to be authentic, and that is the power of these films. We know these characters are impossible. People don’t really have ears like that. They don’t have eyes this big.
“They don’t have these long necks and these tails and all the aspects of a Na’vi, but we believe them, and why do we get seduced by the fact that they seem so real as people? It’s because of that ethos, that mantra, that we use every single day to honour the performance above all other things.”
It’s why, from the very beginning, Cameron opted for a virtual camera system to capture every scene.
The actors work in a ‘volume’ (a large, camera-rigged space), either doing dry performance capture on a soundstage or in a massive water tank that can capture underwater performances.
“You are basically wearing a suit and a mask of dots, and they are captured by hundreds of infrared cameras,” says Worthington, 49. who also starred in Clash Of The Titans.
“So, anything that you do, anything that you say, anything that you feel, anywhere you look, how you are, it’s translated using those dots into the system.
“Now, whether it’s us or a stunt guy jumping into the water or flying on a creature or crying when their son dies, it is all us, and it is all true. And the more the technology has improved, the more subtle we can make our performances.
“So even me just standing there breathing and thinking, that is going to translate through the system, and there’s not one thing that is added to my performance.”
Being forced to use her imagination is what 76-year-old Weaver, who previously worked with Cameron on Alien, has enjoyed most about the Avatar film-making process.
“In a sense, you go back to your childhood and populate this world with the creatures that we’ve seen in the movie, and it becomes a very natural thing. It’s a very safe space for the actors to work and play their characters,” says BAFTA and Golden Globe-winning Ghostbusters star Weaver.
“This is one of the longest aspects of the film, this work, because James centres the rest of the movie on what we do at the beginning. I guess it’s really in ourselves now, what this world is, looks and feels like. It’s sort of like lighting a fire. We suddenly go, boom, we’re there.”
Chaplin, 39, who portrayed Talisa Maegyr in HBO’s Game of Thrones, agrees and adds: “Performance capture is the closest thing that I’ve ever done to poor theatre. It reminded me of being in drama school, where you’re just in your leotard, and you’re doing scene study with your friends, and the relationship to the camera totally disappears.
“You’re not thinking about your close-up. You’re not thinking about whether they’ve gotten a can. You’re not thinking about whether you gave your best performance over the shoulder, which is a cliche, but it’s a cliche because it tends to happen. And so you’re really just there with the other actor.
“The power of the human imagination is really strong. We imagine things all the time that really drive our lives. But to be allowed to get behind the wheel of your imagination and really go for it is a privilege.
“But James Cameron is a very gifted director, so I don’t know if the technique of performance capture would really be worth it, if it wasn’t with such incredible actors and such an incredible director.”
Avatar: Fire And Ash comes to cinemas on Friday, December 19
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