Kate Winslet’s reunion with James Cameron: From ‘Titanic’ to ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’

Pandora, that distant moon that humans dared to explore and try to colonize in the first installment of Avatar (2009) It still hides many landscapes and territories that, it seems, the public will continue to discover with each new installment of the saga imagined, written and directed by James Cameron. (because he plans a total of 5 movies).

To Avatar: The Path of Waterthe Oscar-winning director for titanic (1997) extends an invitation to his audience to see the soil of the Metkayinaa peaceful clan surrounded by oceans and sea creatures that can become their allies.

Jake Sully’s (Sam Worthington) family find refuge with them after an unforeseen event displaces them from their home. Besides, if they want to survive, he, his wife Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) and their children will also have to learn to navigate its waters and overcome that uncomfortable transition of gaining acceptance in a new community.

In addition to the return of Worthington and Saldana, who reprise their roles now as husbands and fathers, Cameron has invited his great friend, the 47-year-old actress Kate Winslet, to the film, with whom he meets again after 25 years on a film set, since he directed it in titanic.

In Avatar: The Path of WaterWinslet becomes Ronal, the matriarch of the Metkayina clan. “As Jim, I only expected the best during the shoot, because of his precision, because he is thorough, because of his way of seeing things,” Winslet commented during a virtual press conference to which Diario EL UNIVERSO was invited.

“But I think what drew me to this role above all else is all the characters he’s created. Jim has always written for women, characters who are not only strong, but who are leaders, who lead with their heart, with integrity, who stand for their truth and own their power.Winslet added of her role.

In the film, Winslet’s character is married to Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and she is also the mother of the teenager Tsireya (Bailey Bass).

“And when I got there, When they welcomed me into this world that was created by these guys, Zoe and Sam, the first thing they did was give my character that pulse.”, recalled the Oscar winner for Reader.

“It’s one thing what Jim writes and quite another to find it and give it a life. It is an extraordinary process. It’s not a performance. It is a universe, it is a love, it is something that is palpable, and that you feel it when you enter that same space. The set may be empty, but it’s absolutely loaded with truths and dynamics that these guys built. They built all that and now they share it with us. And it’s very special to have been a part of all of that.”

the memory of evil

For many, it was a surprise to see at the press conference —and later on the media tour— actor Stephen Lang, who for Avatar gave life to Colonel Miles Quaritch, Didn’t his character die in the first film?

James Cameron attributes this surprising return to a new strategy devised by humans who do not give up on their mission to conquer Pandora. “In addition to having at its disposal an armada of armed land, air, and sea vehicles, now they bring with them a secret weapon: an elite team of soldiers resurrected as recombinants (recoms): autonomous avatars embedded with the memories of the humans whose DNA was used to create them.”, he explains in his production notes. And, leading that fighting force is Recom Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang).. Thus, Quatrich’s sinister mind now also has the strength, size, and speed of a nearly 10-foot-tall avatar.

“When you watch the movie, you really see how fundamental and how complex his character is,” Cameron said of Quatrich’s character. “Stephen is also a terrific screenwriter and he actually brought up a number of ideas that I was able to incorporate into the writing phase. Like the moment he finds his own human remains in the woods.That whole scene was Stephen’s suggestion,” he revealed.

Sigourney Weaverwho played the late Dr. Grace Augustine, returns in the sequel to lend her voice to the character of Kiri, the daughter fathered before her death by her avatar.

Cameron’s Universe

The sequel to Avatar comes 13 years after its predecessor, a film that holds the world record as the highest grossing film, ranking above Avengers: Endgame from Marvel Studios.

The world of Avatar was a setting that stayed in Cameron’s head for a long time. In fact, he had written one of the first drafts for the original film since 1994.despite the fact that it was clear to him that the technological means to realize that vision did not yet exist.

But upon embarking on production more than a decade later, the filmmaker decided to take his project forward by applying the wealth of knowledge he accumulated in the sets of their previous wins, including Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986).

However, at each step, Cameron made sure that the technology created for the film did not overshadow or tarnish the performances and emotion of the characters. as well as the continuity of the story at each stage.

And, once it was decided that such a universe could not be limited to a single film, it became clear that more stories set on the lush alien moon of Pandora would have to be explored. Cameron even wrote 1,500 pages with all the related details and which were later worked on by other scriptwriters, adapting them to the format of the films.

“We had to write all the movies before I could start on the first sequel,” Cameron explained. “I wanted to map out all the stories and then be clear about how to capture the actors’ journey between multiple films. Our vision was to consolidate the different stages of production together: performance capture, live, action, and then post-production.”

John Landau, producer of the saga, agrees with the great ingenuity displayed by Cameron: “I always tell people that Jim writes movies with themes that are bigger than one film genre, and that’s why his movies resonate with people, and there’s no bigger theme, universally, than family itself.”, he commented.

According to preliminary data, the upcoming sequels Avatar They will arrive in 2024, 2026 and 2028. “It’s key to honor what the audience loved about the previous one, but also to do things they don’t expect.”