Zoe Saldaña with an intense expression while filming Avatar Fire and Ash
So far, the Academy has had plenty of love for James Cameron's Avatar movies. The 2009 original and its 2022 sequel, Avatar: The Way of Water, combined for 13 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture nods for both films, and four wins.
It's generally believed that Avatar nearly won the night's top prize at the 2010 ceremony, having tied for most nominations with the eventual winner, The Hurt Locker. None of those nominations were in acting categories. Cameron's films, which make heavy use of performance capture to bring its computer-generated Na'vi characters to life, are embraced as technical marvels and feats of directing, but the awards circuit has remained unwilling to recognize its cast. This despite The Way of Water's campaign pulling back the curtain on the on-set experience, and cleverly drawing parallels between the Avatar team's unique way of working and black-box theater. The latest installment, Avatar: Fire & Ash, is once again cruising to some form of Academy recognition – many have speculated it could miss Best Picture this year, but its appearances on both the National Board of Review and the AFI's best films lists suggest it shouldn't be counted out yet – and its actors are once again being left out of the conversation. Which is such a shame, because their great work is a large part of what makes these movies so involving. Avatar: Fire & Ash Is Proof That Its Actors Deserve More Credit At its core, the Academy's rejection of Avatar's cast gets at something fundamental about film acting. Unlike in theater, actors in movies do not truly own their performances, at least when looked at from beginning to end. What they bring to the table is typically filmed out of order, across multiple days and several takes, and then reconstructed from the raw material in the edit, until what we experience as one, unbroken performance is displayed on screen. This is why film acting was stigmatized for much of cinema's early history, and why there tends to be a great suspicion around anything that is perceived as getting in the way of an actor's performance. Makeup and prosthetics are sometimes talked about this way, but the industry has long since gotten over the hump with those – after all, John Hurt was nominated for Best Actor for his magnificent performance in The Elephant Man back in 1980. But the CG characters built from performance capture have remained a bridge too far since Andy Serkis' work in The Lord of the Rings films sparked debate over his eligibility. Those who believe performance capture should be respected often refer to it as"digital make-up," because what is the difference, really, between Gollum and John Merrick? It is, to my mind, a dangerous line to draw for anyone who values film acting. A cut, camera angle, or music cue can dramatically change the impact of an actor's choice from what they originally intended, so what makes us willing to argue acting shines through this but not that? Would it not make more sense to argue that if a character performed by an actor made you feel something, they deserve credit? And feeling is the essential magic of Avatar. Its storytelling is either elemental or simplistic, depending on your level of appreciation for it, and the films only work if they are infused with similarly fundamental emotions. The actors give this sci-fi epic heart, and they're as big a reason for the immersiveness of the viewing experience as the 3D VFX work. Avatar: Fire & Ash has left audiences blown away by Varang, Oona Chaplin's new villain, which feels like a lay-up Supporting Actress Oscar campaign in any other context. A charismatic, scene-stealing antagonist brought to life by an as-yet unheralded career performer who just so happens to be Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter? If she wasn't playing a Na'vi, that narrative has breakout contender written all over it. Subscribe for expert takes on film acting and VFX Want informed analysis on performance capture, awards debates, and the value of human acting in VFX-driven films? Subscribing to our newsletter unlocks thoughtful essays and reporting that explain why performances like Avatar's deserve recognition. Subscribe Subscribe for expert takes on film acting and VFX Want informed analysis on performance capture, awards debates, and the value of human acting in VFX-driven films? Subscribing to our newsletter unlocks thoughtful essays and reporting that explain why performances like Avatar's deserve recognition. Subscribe By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime. But if Zoe Saldaña, who is clearly beloved in Hollywood, can't break through the blue ceiling, it's not likely that anyone else can. One would think the Academy might ask itself whether it's really more embarrassing to nominate Saldaña for playing Neytiri, the performance that surely defines her career, than letting Emilia Pérez forever be the film she was awarded for. As this franchise continues, and she finds new layers to this remarkably realized action heroine, it's only going to look more glaring. I hope the Academy gets over this aversion soon – and, honestly, I suspect it will. As the debate over"AI actors" gets ever louder, it may become more necessary to stake a claim for the value of human performance in the CG space, where it's most tempting to cut them out. Perhaps it will become much easier to appreciate the qualities that Saldaña, Sam Worthington, and Stephen Lang brought to their performances of Neytiri, Jake, and Quaritch when we see what it's like to have real people removed from the equation entirely. 21 9.1/10 Avatar: Fire and Ash 10 stars 9 stars 8 stars 7 stars 6 stars 5 stars 4 stars 3 stars 2 stars 1 star Like Follow Followed PG-13 Science Fiction Adventure Fantasy Release Date December 19, 2025 Runtime 197 Minutes Director James Cameron Writers Amanda Silver, Rick Jaffa, James Cameron, Josh Friedman, Shane Salerno Producers Jon Landau, James Cameron, Brigitte Yorke, Jamie Landau, Maria Battle-Campbell 7 Images Close Cast See All Prequel Avatar, Avatar: The Way of Water Franchise Avatar Genres Science Fiction, Adventure, Fantasy Powered by Expand Collapse
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