Avatar: The Way of Water star Sam Worthington has detailed just how difficult it was for him to film underwater during the movie's production. In order to ensure that the second installment in the Avatar franchise matched James Cameron's vision, most cast members had to learn free diving, a form of diving that involves holding one's breath for many minutes at a time without scuba gear. Actors had to learn how to hold their breath for over five minutes at a time while wearing motion capture suits, revolutionizing the way motion capture is used in films.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Worthington expressed how challenging it was to play Jake Sully in Avatar: The Way of Water while free diving. He describes the need to balance his profession as an actor with his own mental struggles while holding his breath for minutes at a time. Check out what Worthington said about the experience below:
"I think anything to do with water, it's 10 times harder, whether you're under it or whether you're being drowned, sinking in it. The real challenge on this one was trying to preserve your character while you're doing these things in water, because you could quite easily get caught up in your own head, which then takes you out of the scene, which takes you into your own fears, and then you're not doing your job."
Why Avatar 2 Needed Scenes Filmed Underwater
Worthington's experiences while filming the underwater scenes for Avatar: The Way of Water underscores just how much James Cameron wanted to make sure his vision of the Avatar sequels was as realistic as possible. The second Avatar film is the first movie in history to utilize underwater motion capture to bring its world to life. Had Cameron decided to use a green screen or a studio set to have the Na'vi exploring underwater regions, the convincing nature of their dives may not have had the same visual realism. Cameron took a chance by having actors learn free diving for the film, something that paid off in the form of stunning shots of Pandora's underwater environment.
The use of underwater scenes was also necessary from a storytelling perspective. Avatar: The Way of Water introduces a new Na'vi tribe who utilize Pandora's oceans to survive. Trailers for the film reveal that most of the movie will take place near the water, with Jake and other members of his Na'vi tribe learning to live with them and adopt their cultural values. Part of this involves underwater diving, with the gearless, light blue Na'vi having to navigate the waters for resources. Because of this, many scenes in the film were likely shot underwater, which would necessitate most of the cast who play Na'vi inhabitants to learn how to free dive to make the scenes more realistic.
His experience in free diving for Avatar: The Way of Water may have been difficult, but Worthington's experience filming has cemented him and the rest of the film's cast as part of cinematic history because of Cameron's unique approach to motion capture. The realism within the underwater scenes in the movie has never been achieved this way before, creating visual effects that rival those of 2009's Avatar, which itself set a precedent for visual effects for over a decade to come. Worthington's fears while filming underwater for Avatar: The Way of Water are well-founded but also proved to be worth the challenge.
Source: EW
