Why James Cameron Cast Oona Chaplin Over Bigger Names to Play the Villain in ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’

The writer/director tells IndieWire about Chaplin's creative contributions to her role, and why making a mistake in casting is worse than making mistakes in terms of schedule, budget, and visual design.

One of the most dazzling elements of director James Cameron‘s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” is not a new alien world or piece of weaponry, but a performance: that of Oona Chaplin, whose work as vengeful antagonist Varang is on a par with other iconic Cameron villains like Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator.

When Cameron cast Chaplin in “Fire and Ash” nearly 10 years ago, he didn’t know anything about her Hollywood lineage and wasn’t familiar with her work — he just knew she had the talent and sensibility to embody his newest creation. “I didn’t know who she was,” Cameron said on an upcoming episode of IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast. “I don’t think she had done ‘Game of Thrones’ yet, or at the very least I hadn’t seen it. I didn’t even realize that she was the granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin.”

At the time, Cameron was meeting with actors who were far more well known than Chaplin for the part, but his gut told him she was his Varang. “I was seeing women whose names you would know instantly, who were already stars and people that I had really wanted to work with,” Cameron said. “It was a hard decision to turn against faces and names that I already knew, but Oona surprised me with her perception of the character, her way of moving, and her utter fearlessness. And she was well-prepared — she knew the scene cold, and it was seven or eight pages.”

During the audition process, Cameron worked with Chaplin for hours on one scene, trying it out in different ways to get a sense of how they would work together. “We probably spent more time on that scene than an episodic procedural would have to actually shoot it,” Cameron said, noting that, in his experience, auditioning actors is far different from what people have been led to believe by movies and TV shows about filmmaking.

“When you see it in movies, there are a bunch of people sitting like the panel of dance judges in ‘Flashdance,'” Cameron said. “Somebody comes in and reads the scene, and they say, ‘Thank you for coming in,’ and they walk out. I don’t know how other people do it, but I don’t work that way. I schedule a minimum of a half-hour with anybody that I’m interested in.”

Typically, Cameron whittles his selections for each part down to five or six actors based on recommendations and audition tapes, and not only meets with them but tries to create some of the circumstances that will be replicated on set. “I want to see what their affect is and how they might look on camera,” Cameron said. “I operate myself with an HD camera, and we do a little bit of lighting. Nothing elaborate, just a little that’s kind and models the face.”

Cameron then brings in performers from the acting troupe that he uses on the “Avatar” movies to fill out the various supporting and cameo roles, and has them play scenes opposite the actor auditioning. “I want to see what [the actor’s] impulse is, so  first I let them play it their way with what they’ve prepared, maybe with an acting coach or maybe just their own imagination,” he said. “And then I want to see how they can volley with me, so I just start throwing little things to them to see if they can catch that and run with it.”

That process teaches Cameron whether the actor will be able to discover new things throughout the filmmaking process, or if it begins and ends with what they’ve prepared for the audition. “Some actors are very rigid,” Cameron said. “They can only do it the way they’re prepared. Other actors are completely fluid. I want to see if it’s somebody that I can work with and communicate with and drive toward a creative conclusion.”

In the process, Cameron often finds that the script itself evolves according to the discoveries made during auditions. “I actually learn something about the scene myself, seeing it stood up for the first time,” Cameron said. “I love finding somebody that I can work with to improve the scene.”

Cameron credited Chaplin with an abundance of ideas that made their way into “Fire and Ash,” from influences she brought from her indigenous background to her character’s signature weapon, and he says that’s the kind of input he’s always looking for when he meets with an actor.

“Can they bring some creativity to it? If I feel that, then I’m much more likely to cast them,” Cameron said. “I want to see who they are as a person. Do they have a sense of humor? Can they hear what I’m saying?”

According to Cameron, when it comes to whether or not a movie will work, the die is often cast during this vital part of the filmmaking process, and that’s why he auditions so carefully. “I’ve learned that the biggest mistake that you can make on a movie is not going over schedule or over budget or making visual or design mistakes,” he said. “It’s the casting.”

“Avatar: Fire and Ash” is currently in theaters. To hear the entire conversation with James Cameron and make sure you don’t miss a single episode of Filmmaker Toolkit, subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite podcast platform.