James Cameron Felt His ‘Avatar’ Actors Should’ve Been Nominated for Oscars for the Film
Actor Zoe Saldaña felt she signed her life away when she decided to do James Cameron’s Avatar films. However, it might’ve been worth it, as she and her Avatar co-stars received massive praise for their performance in the blockbuster. Cameron even felt their acting was Oscar-worthy, but he theorized the movie’s special effects prevented the Academy from recognizing the actors’ talents.
James Cameron believed his ‘Avatar’ stars would’ve been nominated if it wasn’t for the CGI
In the first Avatar, many of the film’s stars were morphed into realistic-looking aliens using the power of CGI. Saldaña, for instance, spent the entire feature as her Avatar character. Sam Worthington was able to portray his character both as a human being and an alien as well. But Cameron made sure that the technology that transformed his stars into another species didn’t overshadow their very emotional and human-based performances. Speaking with Peter Jackson for Slate, Cameron explained how and why he found a way to fuse his technology with his stars’ acting.
“The experience of creating a soulful performance is through the eyes: knowing how to rig eyes, how to light for eyes, get the reflections and refractions in the eyes,” Cameron said. “Of course, we had big-eyed characters, which we did on purpose. We couldn’t accomplish the character we’re doing in Avatar through any kind of makeup means. That’s been explored for 30 years of Star Trek and Star Wars. But I think the thing I hope that the media can convey to audiences is that this is an actor-driven process. Nayteri, in my film, for example—she is what Zoe created 100 percent.”
For the Titanic filmmaker, Saldaña and her co-stars’ performances were so impressive that they should’ve gotten Oscar nods. But he believed the Academy couldn’t look past the film’s special effects.
“Was Zoe’s performance spectacular? Absolutely, but there were many great performances last year. But it is arguable that they would have been nominated if you take the computer generated imagery off the table. Put that back on the table – the CGI part of it – and where the acting community is, they are still low down on the educational curve of what this all means,” Cameron once told Empire (via Irish Examiner).
Cameron touched on the theory that putting his actors in practical makeup might’ve allowed people to better register their performances. But it would’ve reduced the movie’s quality as a result.
“Here’s the thing, if it had been in live action, Zoe Saldaña would have been in blue make-up and it would not have had the power. Her eyes would not have been those eyes,” he said. “The blue make-up would have looked terrible. I know – every time I go to a convention or a place where someone decides they’re going to be a Na’vi, I’m reminded why we did it the way we did.”
Zoe Saldaña was disappointed in the Academy for snubbing ‘Avatar’ actors for the sequel
History repeated itself when the sequel Avatar: The Way of Water hit theaters decades later. The cast for The Way of Water once again earned praise from critics that were just as high as their opinions on the film itself. However, the critics’ compliments didn’t translate to Oscar recognition for any of the cast. This time, Saldaña was very candid about what she felt about the perceived snub.
“Old habits die hard, and when you have old establishments, it’s really hard to bring forward change,” Saldaña said in an interview with Variety. “And I understand that, so I’m not bitter about it, but it is quite deflating when you give 120% of yourself into something. I mean, not winning is ok, not being nominated is ok, but when you’re overlooked and then minimized and completely disregarded…”
Saldaña also disagreed with critics who felt that CGI made up the majority of her and her co-stars’ acting in the movie.
“I know the difference between that and what we did,” she said. “At some point you have to ask yourself: why is it that I do what I do? Is it so others can give me approval? Or is it because I don’t want to do anything else?”
Cameron co-signed her sentiments.
“I’ve worked with Academy Award-winning actors, and there’s nothing that Zoe’s doing that’s of a caliber less than that,” he said. “But because in my film she’s playing a ‘CG character,’ it kind of doesn’t count in some way, which makes no sense to me whatsoever. She can go from regal to, in two nanoseconds, utterly feral. The woman is ferocious. She is a freaking lioness.”
