By Zach Johnson
This Friday, Avatar: The Way of Water returns to the big screen for one week only in 3D.
The blockbuster film reached new heights and explores undiscovered depths as Disney Legend James Cameron—the Oscar®-winning creator of the Avatar franchise—returned to the world of Pandora in the emotionally packed action-adventure. Released in 2022, the film grossed more than $2.3 billion worldwide, reacquainting audiences with the expanded Sully family and introducing them to new Na’vi cultures and a range of exotic sea creatures.
The groundbreaking movie was featured on the cover of the Winter 2022 issue of Disney twenty-three, which featured exclusive interviews with the cast and crew. And, in a complementary series of Q&As for D23.com (excerpted below), five of the actors who played Na’vi children in the sequel shared behind-the-scenes details about their characters.
Sigourney Weaver on Kiri
The biological daughter of the avatar of the late Dr. Grace Augustine, Kiri is the adoptive daughter of Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). “Kiri is a much more intuitive, instinctive, smart girl who’s extremely curious and independent. She’s much more one with her environment. She flows through the forest, the sea with knowledge, effortlessly. And because she’s also an adolescent, there are no brakes at all on her feelings. It’s all primary colors, yes/no, red/black,” Weaver explained. “I would say Grace is rational, objective, human, and distraught, and Kiri is a passionate, wild, frustrated 14-year-old.”
Read the full Q&A with Weaver.
Jack Champion on Spider
Jake and Neytiri look after Spider, a war orphan. While he’s human, he feels like a Na’vi. “The Sullys have mostly accepted Spider into their family, except for Neytiri. She has a more complex relationship with him as she sees him as one of the people that killed her family and destroyed their home. The rest of the Na’vi people also don’t entirely accept him,” Champion said. “The younger generation is more accepting than the older generation is.”
Read the full Q&A with Champion.
Trinity Jo-Li Bliss on Tuk
Especially close to her mother, her grandmother (CCH Pounder), and her sister (Weaver), Tuktirey, aka “Tuk,” is daring and mischievous. “She does not see herself as the youngest,” said Bliss, who, like several others, made her feature film debut in Avatar: The Way of Water. “She is small in size but mighty in courage! She wants to be helpful. She has a big heart and her family is the most important thing to her. She’ll do anything to protect them!”
Jamie Flatters on Neteyam
The eldest son of Jake and Neytiri, Neteyam is the protective “golden child.” “He wants to be a leader and a warrior like his father. However, the limits of his adolescence and annoying younger brother Lo’ak stop him from being seen as such,” Flatters explained. “In terms of similarity, Neteyam has a strong attention to virtue, which I also have. But the real joy of playing this character is that there is no space to pointlessly project personal attributes onto something so alien from real life. I think every actor finds most enjoyment when they get to embody something that isn’t attached to the self, and I won’t pollute Neteyam by trying to compare him to a 22-year-old who can’t even tie cool knots in ropes.”
Read the full Q&A with Flatters.
Bailey Bass on Tsireya
“Tsireya is kind and warm,” explained Bass, who made her feature film debut in Avatar: The Way of Water, playing the daughter of Metkayina clan leaders Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) and Ronal (Kate Winslet). “She sees people for the best of who they are. I tend to be the optimist in my family and try to sympathize with people, because we never know what someone is going through. Fortunately, Jim hired actors who have a lot of similarities to their characters, which made stepping into the world of Pandora easier.”
See these characters and more when Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in the Avatar franchise, opens exclusively in theaters in IMAX 3D, Dolby Cinema 3D, RealD 3D, Cinemark XD, 4DX, ScreenX, and premium screens everywhere on December 19, 2025.