Thirteen years after the release of the original film, James Cameron is finally bringing Avatar: The Way of Water to the big screen. The new film revisits Pandora, with Jake and Neytiri (Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana) now parents. The new film is also going to explore different tribes on the planet and focus specifically on Pandora's oceans.
Jack Champion, Bailey Bass, and Jamie Flatters are among the new cast members joining Avatar in The Way of Water and will also be starring in the upcoming sequels, Avatar 3 and 4. While much of the plot for The Way of Water is being kept tightly under wraps, the stars were able to reveal that the film introduces a new tribe, the seafaring Metkayina, and that the humans aren't yet done with Pandora.
Screen Rant was able to catch up with Champion, Bass, and Flatters at Disney's Animal Kingdom to learn about their roles in the film, some behind-the-scenes bonding, and one of the wildest audition processes ever.
Jack Champion, Bailey Bass, & Jamie Flatters On Avatar: The Way Of Water
Screen Rant: The first thing I want to ask all three of you is to tell me a little about your characters in the film.
Jack Champion: I play Spider. He's a human that was born at Hell's Gate on Pandora and orphaned there when the humans evacuated. He grew up alongside the Sully family and the Na'vi culture. He considers himself one of the people even though he has his physical limitations. But he's really close with his Na'vi siblings, and he really tries to keep up with them and earn his nickname.
Bailey Bass: I play Tsireya, who's part of the new clan introduced in The Way of Water, the Metkayina clan. They're influenced by their environment, and since they're surrounded by oceans they have broader shoulders and a fin on their arm to help them swim faster. She has a big heart, and she gets along with the Sully kids very quickly.
Jamie Flatters: I play Neteyam, who is the eldest son of Jake and Neytiri, the main characters from the first film, and... I guess I'd say my character is a pretty cool dude.
The first film was released in 2009, so there's going to be 10 and 11-year-olds seeing this movie who weren't even alive when the first one came out. Joining the cast for this new movie, did you feel like you were continuing a story or making a new one?
Jack Champion: We're definitely creating something new and fresh. But, obviously, its roots are in the first film, but it's still completely new and different because of how much time has passed. Jake now has a family and the film is exploring new parts of Pandora and new tribes, so it will definitely be a new story.
Bailey Bass: Also, Jim's [James Cameron] intention is for each film to have its own arc and own emotional story and journey. So you can watch them separated, and still fall in love with the characters, and you still feel like you're on the journey.
Do you think that someone would need to watch the first film to see this one? Or do you think it has enough story to stand alone?
Jamie Flatters: It's not an imperative, but the amount of emotional weight and resonance this new film will have will be a lot deeper, and your experience will be a lot more informed if you've seen the first one. But, like Bailey said, the story is a completely standalone, different experience, nonetheless.
Speaking of the first film, it had so many environmental messages in it. Is there still a sense of activism in this new film? Do you think it still has a message to tell?
Bailey Bass: I don't think there was necessarily an activist root to the movie, I think the root of the story has always been about family and taking care of each other. Even in the first one, when you look at the relationship between Jake and Neytiri. But, yes, Jim does care a lot about the environment as I feel we all do in some capacity, and with introducing the oceans, we get to explore more of Pandora.
Jack Champion: I think it [Pandora] shows how beautiful our own world can be. So it's kind of like, hey, maybe we should take care of it. It just shows how beautiful nature can be.
Bailey Bass: It's like what Jon [Landau] says. He says that Avatar kind of parallels our world. And I think that's how people should look at it, less of an activist type of way, but more of that the story of Pandora is parallel to Earth.
Jamie Flatters: Yeah, activism is too much of a "doing" word. I feel like the type of love the Na'vi have for the natural world is that it's naturally appreciated. It's something beautiful. To me as a viewer of the first film, that's the main message I got. It wasn't about trying to promote a message, it was just the simple fact of appreciation.
Do you think that feeling of appreciating nature and of caring for one another continues in The Way of Water?
Jamie Flatters: Definitely, because it's so culturally resonant to who the Na'vi are. And I feel like Jim's using the focal point of family to explore that theme even further.
With the ocean being such a big part of this movie, I've heard that you did some free dive training to get ready for filming.
Bailey Bass: Yes, free diving was actually part of our audition process.
Jamie Flatters: Did you get told that if you don't hold your breath for one minute, you're going home?
Bailey Bass: I didn't get told that, but I knew I had to do one minute if I wanted to be in Avatar, I knew holding my breath was part of the audition. It was Kirk Krack, our instructor in the film, who was instructing us in the audition process. So it was great to have someone in the crew that's been with us from the beginning when we barely knew what we were doing to the end when we were free diving and trained.
Did they actually put you in the water for the audition? Or did they just tell you to hold your breath?
Bailey Bass: We had to dive like 16 feet and collect rings from the bottom of a pool and then bring them up. They wanted to know we could tread water, swim, and hold our breath before they put us in a big tank and asked us to act underwater.
Jack Champion: Wait, I didn't have to do that! They didn't check me, so what if I couldn't? What if they cast me, and then I couldn't hold my breath? (laughs) But I did have to do two years of performance capture underwater. So, free diving. And then another two years of scuba, because [my character] is human. So I had to do live-action filming too.
This movie had a four-year production, right?
Bailey Bass: Yeah, but for us [pointing to her and Flatters] it was about two years because we only did motion capture.
Was there ever a wild moment on set? What's a great moment that happened while filming?
Jack Champion: I don't know how far into production it was, I think it was 2018, so, less than a year in. We all came together as a cast and crew and put on these shows called the Scounds. It'd be guys from free diving, guys from the computer side, and scuba guys and stunt guys. They created this band, and we'd all jam out to these rock shows they put together on our soundstage. That was something so creative and cool that I don't think we'll ever experience again.
Bailey Bass: We were a family. When you work on a film for that long, you're almost forced to bond, but in the most beautiful way. There were a lot of talented people on set, so they created concerts, and we got to be a part of them. Me and Jack played the kazoo.
What were some of the songs you rocked out to on the kazoo?
Bailey Bass: It was a bunch of rock songs like AC/DC and Aerosmith.
Jamie Flatters: I auditioned for the kazoo band, but didn't get in [laughs].
About Avatar: The Way Of Water
Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, “Avatar: The Way of Water” begins to tell the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.
Check out our other Avatar: The Way Of Water interviews here:
Avatar: The Way of Water hits theaters on December 16.
