Zoe Saldaña is calling for Avatar creator James Cameron to shine a brighter light on one of Hollywood’s most misunderstood art forms, performance capture.
In a recent conversation with Alicia Keys on Beyond Noise, the Avatar star revealed that Cameron “is considering a documentary about the making of Avatar, finally giving us a chance to explain, in a meticulous way, why performance capture is the most empowering form of acting.”
Saldaña, who plays Neytiri in both Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), has long championed the value of motion capture work, emphasising how it allows actors to take full creative ownership of their characters. “It gives us the credit, the ability to own 100 per cent of our performance on screen,” she said, contrasting it with traditional animation, where actors primarily lend their voices.
“Performance capture means that Avatar wouldn’t exist if Sigourney Weaver, Sam Worthington, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, I, and the entire cast didn’t get up and put those dots on our faces,” she explained. “We step into a volume, that’s what we call the set, filled with hundreds of cameras tracking our every move and feeding that data into the system that becomes Pandora.”
The actor also detailed the extraordinary physical and emotional preparation behind Cameron’s sci-fi epic. “It takes an average of seven years between each Avatar film,” she noted. “From archery, martial arts, and free diving to learning a new language and moving like another species—that’s all us, along with an incredible team of stunt performers who make our characters feel almost bionic.”
For Saldaña, performance capture is not just a technical process; it’s a profound artistic discipline that still doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. She previously called out the Academy Awards for overlooking motion capture performances in acting categories, despite honouring visual effects teams. “With the technology that Jim creates, he gives the artist the power of complete ownership. It’s beautiful,” she added.
James Cameron’s Avatar franchise, which has already earned three Oscars for cinematography, visual effects, and art direction, will continue with Avatar: Fire and Ash, set to hit theatres on December 19, 2025.
