‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ | Bailey Bass, Jamie Flatters on bringing James Cameron’s vision to life

The two young actors, who are poised to play prominent roles in the ‘Avatar’ franchise in the years to come, talk of Cameron’s brilliance in working with newcomers and their takeaways from the shooting experience of a lifetime

While much of the hype surrounding the release of James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water is around the return of leading stars Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña — as well as others like Kate Winslet, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang — we now turn the attention to the next generation of actors set to inhabit the wondrous world of Pandora.

With three more sequels already announced and in development, Cameron has clearly decided to explore several more stories set on the lush alien moon. Two young actors who will make their Avatar franchise debut in The Way of Water — and are set to play prominent lead roles in the films to come — are Bailey Bass and Jamie Flatters.

Bailey Bass plays Tsireya, Ronal (Winslet) and Tonowari’s (Curtis) teenage daughter, who struggles to understand her ties to the family once Jake and Neytiri’s middle child, Lo’ak, enters her life. Meanwhile, Jamie Flatters as Neteyam is described as the eldest of Jake and Neytiri’s boys, and the “golden child” who can do no wrong.

Both the actors are relatively new; teenager Bailey is best known for the thriller Gift of Murder, while Jamie starred in the Netflix film The School for Good and Evil, alongside the likes of Charlize Theron and Michelle Yeoh.

Now, the duo is set for international attention, as their big Hollywood ticket to fame opens in cinemas this week. Ahead of the film’s release, they talk to us on a Zoom call about a filmmaking experience that has changed their lives for good. Excerpts:

Bailey: There are quite a few emotional scenes in this movie as expected. We were trying to touch every emotion you can possibly feel, and I was trying to evoke Tsireya to the best of my ability. 

What I love about Jim [Cameron] is that whenever I’m doing an emotional scene, he will come and whisper to me. He understands the tone, but that makes me feel very protected, because there is a fine line between the actor and the person. And if I push it too far over the edge, then the experiences are going to affect me and my mental health personally.