Following the success of his new movie Avatar: Fire and Ash, James Cameron has revealed that Zoe Saldaña and Kate Winslet play more than one role in the Avatar series.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter’s Director Roundtable, he broke down how exactly Saldaña and Winslet dip their toes in various parts of Avatar. Across three films, the two actresses have played other characters besides Neytiri and Ronal.
“The thing that’s so lovely about performance capture is that people can play other characters,” he explained.“Like, if Zoe got bored on the first film, she’d just play someone else for a scene. Kate did that, too. She didn’t have any lines for a moment; in a scene, she’d just play somebody else. I think Kate’s got about three characters, and Zoe has got three or four.”
Cameron also spoke about other troupes and how they also take on different agendas in the Avatar world.
“We also have this actual troupe, where we call them the troupe. I call them the Swiss Army knife, jack of all trades actors. They might play an old man one day, a boy the next day, and a male warrior the next day. They can do anything. They’re just constantly changing hats, changing characters. It’s very egalitarian.
Avatar: Fire and Ash debuted in theaters on December 19, 2025. Following this, it amassed $342.5 million at the box office. The movie comes three years after the release of Avatar: The Way of the Water. The first two films are the first and third highest-grossing movies of all time.
