‘Avatar 2’: Sigourney Weaver asked to change her character design (she didn’t like it)

James Cameron will finally release “Avatar: The Way of Water” after 13 years, the sequel to his long-time highest-grossing film.

This time the world of Pandora returns 10 years later with the Na’vi tribe and the protagonists, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), are already parents.

The offspring of Jake and Neytiri have 5 fingers, being the children of an avatar, so they are considered outsiders by the other residents and must earn their place in the community.

Such is the case with his 15-year-old stepdaughter named Kiri, who will be played by Sigourney Weaver despite the fact that her character (Dr. Grace Augustine) died in the first film.

The explanation for Weaver playing Kiri is because the teenager is the physical daughter of Dr. Augustine, director James Cameron confirmed to Entertainment Weekly on November 10.

But to get 73-year-old Sigourney Weaver to play a teenage alien, the character design was very meticulous and even the actress herself asked for it to be modified.

• You can also catch Sigourney Weaver in “Red Lights” on ViX+, ViX’s premium streaming service.

‘Avatar 2’: Sigourney Weaver asked to change the design of her character

Director James Cameron talked about the decade-long process of making the “Avatar” sequel and addressed the criticism of his work in a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter on Nov. 30, 2022.

Although she said she takes the criticism personally, anyone can make her see mistakes, and she gave the example of Sigourney Weaver.

The director revealed that Weaver initially complained about Kiri’s character design. He was of the opinion that it looked too clean and pretty, so he asked for it to be modified to look more like a normal teenager.

Sigourney Weaver in another interview for Vanity Fair had already commented that the creation of Kiri was a feedback process between her and Cameron, until they managed to represent her correctly.

Sigourney Weaver was based on Kiri from “Avatar 2” in her teenage years

Sigourney Weaver herself said that when she was 11 years old she was shy, very tall (almost 6 feet) and her movements were clumsy, so she wanted that experience to be reflected in Kiri, which ties in with her not being like Na’I he saw beautifully.

Weaver and Cameron have been working together since 1986 on the movie “Aliens,” and because of that relationship the actress said she was cast in this “weird” role in which she has to be a teenager again.

Finally, Weaver commented that Kiri was important to her to make the audience see that Kiri feels strange all the time and is trying to figure out who she is and where she belongs.