2 Attachment(s)
Why Avatar 2 Underwater Scenes Were Hardest Things Star Ever Did
Avatar: The Way of Water star Sam Worthington says that the film’s underwater scenes were his biggest challenge to date. The Avatar sequel comes over a decade after the original film initially hit theaters in 2009. James Cameron returns to the director’s chair for the film. Returning actors include Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver (albeit as a different character), and Stephen Lang. Avatar 2 will also add new actors to its cast including Kate Winslet, Michelle Yeoh, and Oona Chaplin.
As the title suggests, water is a critical element in The Way of Water. The water in Cameron’s Avatar sequel is computer-generated, a fact that has already been praised by VFX artists based on the film’s trailer. Even though the water in the final film was made with CGI, the actors still had to film scenes underwater in order to replicate the proper motion capture movement for their characters. These underwater sequences saw The Way of Water’s main actors performing incredible physical feats. Winslet notably held her breath for seven-and-a-half minutes for one Avatar 2 scene, breaking Tom Cruise’s on-film breath-holding record from Mission Impossible.
Though Winslet was ultimately the most impressive breath-holder on set, Worthington too says the underwater scenes were excruciating in a recent interview with Empire (via Deeper Blue). According to Worthington, the “restraints” and “constrictions” of both freediving and working with the motion capture technology add additional difficulty to the underwater scenes. While Worthington attempted to maintain his stellar performance under said constraints, he also was grappling with “the fear of dying” while holding his breath underwater for that long. Check out the full quote from Worthington below:
Quote:
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. You’re dealing with the restrictions of freediving, the constraints of motion capture underwater, and you’re trying to keep an emotional journey going while you’re innately struggling with the fear of dying.”
Worthington’s experience speaks volumes about just how much of a feat Avatar: The Way of Water was to make. Not only did actors have to “keep an emotional journey going” in this high-caliber Cameron film, but they also had to go through intense mental gymnastics and exhibit physical fitness and strength while filming. A lot of attention in recent Avatar press has focused on its CGI advances, and this praise is certainly warranted. The accomplishments of Avatar 2’s actors, however, should not be ignored in the hype and praise of the upcoming sequel, and Worthington’s account of the underwater scenes helps demonstrate that fact.
Over the course of its early publicity and press, Avatar: The Way of Water has garnered its fair share of detractors. While VFX artists keep coming forward in support of the film, many people initially dismissed Avatar 2, saying it lacked cultural relevancy and did not make improvements from the first film. The more that comes out in advance of the sequel, however, the more these claims appear widely inaccurate. Individual accounts from actors like Worthington will not stop Avatar: The Way of Water from receiving any criticism, of course. But for those who are more closely following the film, the shining technical achievement that it is feels undeniable, even before its release. Hopefully, these achievements will coalesce into the virtuosic film that Avatar: The Way of Water has great potential to become.
Avatar 2 (2022)
Release Date: Dec 16, 2022
