Next Christmas, the highly anticipated Avatar 3 will return audiences to the aquatic world of Pandora. While the next installment continuing the story of James Cameron’s contribution to the best 2000s movies has wrapped principal photography, there are still some finishing touches required. And that leads to a humorous story star Zoe Saldaña recalled about some recent reshoots, which led to a stunt that hurt pretty bad since she was away from the set for so long.
It was during a late night appearance shared on The Tonight Show’s YouTube that the A-list actress dropped this particular anecdote. As she explained, the situation arose due to some stunt work that took place not too long ago. And, as you’ll read below, the story begins simple enough, with the star encountering the following expectations set for the experience:
They called me back in January out of nowhere. And they’re like, ‘We just have some pick-up shots. Can you please come in?’ I was like, ‘OK.’ He’s like, ‘It’s super no-hassle, it’s just little close-ups.’ And all of a sudden, they’re like, ‘Hey, so now, this shot is you on your ikran.’ The ikran is my dragon that I ride, and I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me? Like I haven’t gone to the gym in like…’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, it’s gonna be fine! It’s super easy!’
That sort of confidence doesn’t seem too far off. As a veteran of the Star Trek reboots and the MCU, some probably think that Zoe Saldaña is almost always in her typical action hero shape. Not to mention, since this Avatar 3 shot involved her character, Neytiri, riding on an ikran, it almost sounds like this scene is akin to a lot of the action fans can already see in previous films (which can be accessed with a Disney+ subscription).
Unfortunately, Ms. Saldaña found herself in a bit of an unfortunate position once this round of filming started. Revealing the painful reality to this new Avatar 3 stunt, Zoe finished her story with this humorous yet brutal moment of truth:
I took a squat, and I couldn’t get up. I was literally like [gets in squat position]. And they’re like, ‘Cut, Zoe!’ I’m like, ‘I need help.’
To even share this story with the world is a pretty big deal, especially given that she’s one of the faces of such a huge franchise. Then again, with her joking about her age when Avatar 5 releases, the action veteran has already proven that she’s got candor to spare.
And, thankfully, when filming picks up on the rest of the saga, Zoe Saldaña will presumably have more time to prepare as much as she’d like, so as to prevent a moment such as this from happening again. Then again, with the time jumps in store for the rest of the series, one has to wonder how much more ikran riding Netyiri will have to do before reaching the presumed end of the line.
Avatar 3 is currently set to hit the schedule of upcoming Disney movies on December 19th, 2025. So just as Zoe Saldaña has some time to get some squats in, you’ll have time to work out your eye muscles for the 3D thrills coming down the line.