00:00You have been in 22 different films since the first Avatar.
00:03Don't worry, 21 of mine never came out.
00:12Do you guys know how many movies you each have been in since the first Avatar film?
00:16Uh, no.
00:17No.
00:19No.
00:20You have been in 24 movies since that time.
00:23And I was trying not to work because I kept thinking Avatar is going to start.
00:27Right.
00:27And I want to be ready.
00:30Um, you know, I want to be in good shape and everything.
00:32So that's quite amazing.
00:3338 different films.
00:3538 films.
00:36Does it feel that way?
00:38Yeah, nightgake.
00:38I don't, yeah, I don't know how it feels.
00:40I mean, you know, they're like, uh, footsteps on a block of ice on a hot day.
00:46They just kind of disappear at the time to me, you know.
00:49Have I been in any good ones?
00:50Terrific ones.
00:5138 terrific films.
00:53I love it.
00:53Actually, yes.
00:54Each one a winner.
00:55You have been in 22 different films since the first Avatar.
00:58That's a lot.
00:59And you have been in 25 different films.
01:01Oh my God.
01:02Since the first Avatar.
01:03Jesus.
01:04So.
01:04Um, a lot.
01:06Does it feel that way?
01:07No, no.
01:07I thought it was only like five.
01:10Don't worry, 21 and one never came out.
01:17But there's, there's a great level of gratitude.
01:19And I know I'm speaking for Sam as well in that sense.
01:23Um, the Avatar experience has been a gift that keeps on giving.
01:27It's not just the opportunities that, that it made for us in our careers, but also like
01:32just how we evolved as, as people.
01:34You know, when, and it goes to show how important it is for young people to meet their role models,
01:42to work with their idols, and to learn from them.
01:45You know, I knew, I knew James Cameron before I even knew his face.
01:49I saw it in Ellen Ripley.
01:50I saw it in Sarah Connor.
01:52And these were the heroines that I held on to when I was six years old.
01:55And my environment didn't see me or represent me by my gender, by my race.
02:00But if it wasn't for these characters that he created, and they're the reason as to why
02:05I ended up being an actor.
02:07And then the fact that the destiny and our, you know, our journeys like brought us together,
02:11it's kismet.
02:12So I was never going to let that opportunity go by and not, and not sort of reap the benefit
02:18and learn from it and grow.
02:19So the fact that we're able to come back again, that just feels like it's too much.
02:24It's like, that never happened, you know?
02:26I was not ready for this movie as a parent.
02:29Well, I haven't seen it.
02:31Okay.
02:31So I'm very excited to come see it on Tuesday night.
02:34It packs.
02:34Can't wait.
02:35How old are your children?
02:36They are 18 and 14.
02:38Ah, wow.
02:38Okay.
02:39And it packs a wallop.
02:41Okay, good.
02:41Oh my gosh.
02:42I think that was probably the intention.
02:44Yes, I think so.
02:44So brace yourself for it.
02:46Good.
02:46I'm curious if you wish Mr. Cameron had the tech that's available to him now back on Titanic.
02:52I think he probably wishes he'd had the tech that he has invented and created.
02:56He's done all of this.
02:59Yes, you know, Titanic for Jim, I think must have been such a kind of terrifying experience
03:03because a lot of what he was implementing, I'm sure to a certain extent, was a bit experimental,
03:09you know?
03:09And there was no room for error.
03:11My God.
03:11I mean, it was all on him.
03:13But the way that he has evolved and the things that he has done technically since then are
03:19just phenomenal.
03:20And being part of Avatar and really seeing that firsthand and experiencing it and witnessing
03:26the level at which he works and the performances by the other actors and what they created with
03:31the first one and were able to share with me, it was an amazing experience.
03:35I want to talk about him as a screenwriter, though, because you are one of the female protagonists
03:38that he writes so well.
03:39Yes.
03:39What's different about his screenplays and the characters that he hands to you?
03:43Well, I think there's, they go hand in hand.
03:47You know, his screenplays are so powerful and always because at the heart is a strong
03:53woman.
03:55And it's not just that that woman is emotionally strong.
03:57She's physically strong.
03:58She's resilient.
03:59She's a leader.
03:59She's capable.
04:00She's loving.
04:01She's welcoming.
04:02She's kind.
04:03She's compassionate.
04:04And Avatar is just full of female characters like that.
04:07Right.
04:07And that's the world I want to live in.
04:10That's the mother I want to always be.
04:13Sure.
04:13So I was very inspired by those themes because they really do underpin the narrative.
04:18They really do pull the audience in.
04:21And that's the reason that this story, I think, is going to resonate so much is because
04:26we need family.
04:27We need community like that.
04:33The way of water connects all things.
04:36I need you with me.
04:40And I need you to be strong.
04:50Strong heart.
04:52Zoe, you are a mama bear in this movie.
04:54And I love it.
04:55I love it so much.
04:56And it leads to some really intense scenes in the back half of the movie.
04:59I'm curious how you worked yourself up to those.
05:01And more importantly, how you came down after those scenes.
05:03It's funny.
05:04I was just sharing this with Jim.
05:07It was the first time I've seen him in a minute.
05:09And I felt that in Avatar way of water, Nei-Tiri challenged me the most because Nei-Tiri was challenged
05:18the most.
05:19You know, the first time she's just fighting what's in her heart.
05:24And it's just love.
05:26She's falling in love.
05:27She's falling into this abyss of like sensation of love and curiosity for this other individual.
05:33In Avatar way of water, she's fighting fear.
05:36Yeah.
05:37And there's so much anger, you know, and unresolved conflict in her heart.
05:43And in a way, it was a very fantastic year for me as well as a person where, and as
05:50a woman, you know, the whole, there was just a lot going on.
05:54And Nei-Tiri and I felt my life were really parallel.
05:57If it wasn't for Jake, for Sam and Jake, you know, talking us off the ledge many times.
06:03But Jim challenged me.
06:05He knows, he knows where this woman, this creature is, and he knows where she needs to end up.
06:12So we're working backwards.
06:13And he's not even going to let me get in her way.
06:16She has a journey that is very relatable.
06:19I am, you know, she's, she's my great grandmother.
06:22Right.
06:23Nei-Tiri is my great grandmother, just a warrior that had to do so much for her family, growing up
06:28and raising a family in a time of war.
06:30And, um, and just being so tough sometimes that she couldn't really connect with her heart.
06:36And that's Nei-Tiri.
06:38But, but, you know, Jake, Jake is her heart.
06:40Jake is like her rock.
06:42And, and we're going to get to see throughout the transcourse of this saga where they are and then where
06:48they end up.
06:49And it's quite remarkable.
06:50It's a full life.
06:52To that end, Sam, with so much talk about the tech.
06:55But talk about James as a screenwriter.
06:57Like when you got the parts of, of Jake this time out, what surprised you the most about the journey
07:01that you've been on?
07:03The detail, not only the world, obviously, and the, and the vision of the, the ecosystems and stuff, but he's
07:11tapping into things that are very personal to him.
07:13And that's all that comes across in his writing.
07:15You know, Jim has five children.
07:17Jim's gone through several marriages.
07:19And I think Jim's growing as a, as a human and, uh, you know, in how he deals with things.
07:24And so I think there was a lot of that that just pinged off the page.
07:28Um, you know, plus the guy's got a great track record of sequels of keeping it familiar,
07:32but just raising the ante just that a little bit.
07:34Yeah, it's hard.
07:35You don't bet against him.
07:36No.
07:37A Jim Cameron script is, reads very much like a novel.
07:41It's not a conventional, uh, you know, film script in a way.
07:45It's very, very detailed, extremely descriptive, which I, which I really, really like, you know.
07:51When it gets into the nuance of the character, he can do it in a word.
07:55He's a good writer, you know.
07:56He says, uh, he'll say something like, you know, uh, the set of his jaw is, uh, you know,
08:02granite, or that sounds cliched, but, you know, you get, he, he, he conveys things very quickly
08:08and very efficiently.
08:10Plus, when you're working with him, you know, we have a pretty good understanding of what
08:13we're talking about.
08:14And what was your reaction to, because from what I understand, when the script for two came,
08:18it came with two, three, and four, is that correct?
08:20And five.
08:20Did that seem not overwhelming, but just were you surprised at how far his vision had gone?
08:26No, not really knowing Jim.
08:28I mean, I knew that from the beginning.
08:30I knew he wasn't going to, we weren't going to begin work until we, there was, until he
08:35had an ending, until he had the entire story laid out, you know.
08:40And, uh, and that took a while, but reading each one was a, was a trip.
08:46If you want to live here, you have to ride.
08:52I'm wondering what your chief concern was when you heard you were going to be going
08:55back, uh, if you had any and how it was alleviated.
08:58Well, I knew, uh, Jim and I had met in 2010 and kind of had lunch and discussed the idea
09:05of creating a character who is related to Grace Augustine, but was her own person, her
09:11own spirit, someone who felt more comfortable in the natural world than she does with people,
09:16all these things.
09:17And so they were cooking in me for a while and when he sent me the, all four scripts,
09:22which she sent all of them at once to all of us, um, I was just so excited by what
09:28he'd
09:28created, the family, the world, the threats and, um, and Kiri and her friend Spider, the
09:35human boy, uh, they have such a special relationship and, um, and Kiri has such a special relationship.
09:42So my one concern, once I read it was I, I started to reconstruct myself as a 14 year
09:50old based on my excruciating memories of being that age.
09:53And the one concern I had was the voice.
09:57And I went to a few classes, uh, LaGuardia high school for that age group.
10:03And what I discovered was that there's such a range.
10:06Some kids sound like kids, some kids sound like adults and girls and boys all over the place.
10:13So then I just let Kiri have the voice that she has.
10:16And I'd check with Jim every now and then, and he was very happy.
10:21So, um, that was, you know, I had to, I had to achieve some, some things and develop them
10:28before I got to the set to really let go and be that age.
10:32Dad, I know you think I'm crazy, but I feel her.
10:38I hear her heartbeat.
10:42So what does her heartbeat sound like?
10:50Mighty.
10:51When did you find your in to the character?
10:53When did you feel you best understood her?
10:55Um, I think it was as soon as I sat down around a table with all the other actors and
11:01we just
11:01read the script through and shared some thoughts.
11:05And that's when I realized, my God, I'm walking into a world that they have created and I'm
11:10honored to be here.
11:12And I felt so welcomed.
11:14I felt so included.
11:16Um, it's a very, very special thing to be part of the Avatar cast.
11:20And it's something that I will treasure forever.
11:23There's something that we stress that I don't think other people can understand is that James
11:26Cameron had the highest grossing film of all time and that he, he beat his own film.
11:30Yeah, but that's just Jim, isn't it?
11:32Well, I guess, I mean, how did you feel when that happened?
11:34Well, it's made me now think, well, okay, so if I have got the longest breath hold of any
11:41known actor out there so far, well, then it makes me feel like, well, I've got to go one
11:45better.
11:46If Jim can go one better with Avatar, I've got to go one better with the breath hold.
11:49No, Jim is just such an impressive person.
11:52Right.
11:52I mean, he's a, he's a genius.
11:54And when he sets his mind to something, he's going to do it.
11:56And he's going to do it to the best of his ability.
11:59And I, you know, I, I try and be a little bit like that myself.
12:02Yeah.
12:02So I'm sure that's why we get along so well.
12:08Wherever we go, this family is our fortress.
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