Avatar: The Way of Water director James Cameron lost bets because he underestimated Neytiri’s Zoe Saldaña on her impressive archery skills.
Avatar: The Way of Water’s leading actress, Zoe Saldaña, reveals that her archery skills caused director James Cameron to lose bets. Saldaña reprises her role as Neytiri in Avatar: The Way of Water. Neytiri was established as a great Na’vi warrior woman in 2009’s Avatar, using a bow and arrow to join the fight against the Sky People when they encroached on Pandora’s beautiful forest landscape. As Neytiri and her Sully family leave the Omaticaya clan in search of refuge in Metkayina territory, Neytiri uses her archery skills less than in the first, but still exhibits them in the film.
Apparently putting little faith in the actress’s archery skills, Cameron lost money placing bets against Saldaña’s ability to hit targets. As Saldaña and Avatar: The Way of Water co-star Sam Worthington recount to People, Saldaña herself didn’t even quite believe she could hit some of the marks at first. Thus, Cameron placed bets against her during the filming of Avatar: The Way of Water. When Saldaña began shooting a better shot and Cameron started losing bets of up to $100, the director started changing his strategy. Check out Worthington and Saldaña’s story below:
Saldaña: “I’m proud of the fact that Jim [Cameron] has lost bets of whether or not again I can hit a mark. [Mimics bow and arrow]. So he’ll like, you know he’ll be like ‘go hit that.’ And in my mind I’ll be like ‘there’s no way I can.’”
Worthington: “I think he lost a lot of money, he lost a lot of money betting against Zoe.”
Saldaña: “Exactly, one time it was, I think it was 100 bucks. And then the second time it was like 50 bucks.”
Worthington: “It kept going down as you were getting better.”
How Zoe Saldaña’s Archery Skills Flourished on Screen
Since Neytiri, Jake Sully, and the Sully kids spend the middle third of Avatar: The Way of Water learning the ways of the Metkayina people, Neytiri has less on-screen time to fight than she did in the first Avatar film. Nonetheless, Saldaña’s training showed in the archery sections. In the opening sequence of Avatar: The Way of Water, Jake Sully narrates the events that happened over time between Avatar and its sequel. Among the images is a shot of Saldaña’s Neytiri shooting a bow and arrow while pregnant.
This shot, which was included in the film’s trailer, is an example of the grace and strength with which Saldaña wields a bow and arrow while acting in the role. Combined with Avatar: The Way of Water’s luscious background and seamless cinematography, shots of Neytiri’s archery show the positive results of Saldaña’s hours of training. She handles this weaponry with the dignity of a Na’vi warrior, fitting in as smoothly as her swimming shots.
Other Skills Actors Learned For Avatar: The Way of Water
Many actors in Avatar: The Way of Water performed intense training to learn to swim and hold their breath for long periods underwater so that they could act underwater for the underwater motion capture sequences. The Avatar cast also needed to ride replicas of the film’s creatures to make the scenes look more realistic when rendered for the screen, and these physical feats are part of what made Avatar: The Way of Water so dazzling to watch. CGI contributes to much of the scenery, but it is the incredibly physical work of the actors and those who trained them that make Pandora’s movements a truly immersive experience.
Source: People
