James Cameron gets honest about Sigourney Weaver's performance in 'Avatar'

Sigourney Weaver first played Dr. Grace Augustine in Avatar in 2009. But she was asked to play a different role in the forthcoming installments.

It was Kiri, a teenage Na'vi character. This was quite a challenge for the 76-year-old actress. But in James Cameron, the franchise's director, she portrayed the character superbly.

"She was 70 and 71 across that period where she was capturing Kiri," he tells People, adding, "I mean, she can capture Kiri tomorrow. Nothing's changed. She's a little bit older now, but she just come in a different person. She came in lighter and more open. I mean, she literally looked like she had gotten younger."

In the interview, the filmmaker acknowledges the challenge for Sigourney in playing such a role. “Because in her mind, she had taken herself back to her 14- to 15-year-old self. And by the way, it wasn't all fun and light. It was the darkness of an anxious teenager," he notes

"She can [answer] these questions better than I can, but [Weaver] talks about being gawky and awkward and feeling unseen, and she channels all that as well," James adds.

Sigourney herself, in a previous interview, admitted that playing a teenager gave her a chance to explore her teenage years, which were, for the most part, embattled.

"I was such a miserable,” she told Empire, noting, "I was so insecure — and funny, so I managed to survive high school — but I didn’t have any real confidence."

But playing Kiri, Sigourney noted, gave her “an opportunity to go back and re-enter that state of mind, be in it and trust myself in a different way [with] that character."

Avatar: Fire & Ash will arrive in theatres tomorrow.