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Zoe Saldaña isn’t the queen of the worldwide box office by chance. The actress seriously worked for it, especially when it comes to portraying the iconic Neytiri for the Avatar movies. When CinemaBlend talked to the actress for Fire And Ash about playing the role for the past fifteen years, she flexed on all the things she can do now. And one really stands out.
The Skills Zoe Saldaña Learned For The Avatar Movies
Saldaña’s Na'vi role is done through performance capture, meaning that she actually does physically perform just about every moment in the film – she just looks very different from the final product we see on the big screen. Here’s what she told us about what she can do because of Neytiri:
I learned to ride a horse without a saddle from the first movie. I became an archer, but the Na'vi way 'cause I can't really shoot a bow in a regular way. It has to be the Na'vi way. And I, and I have a really good aim. So, if you bet money with me, you may lose it. What else? I speak Na'vi. It's crazy. And I really feel that performance capture is a form of acting. It's a process that gave me a lot of confidence that I needed to really believe in myself and set and set forward like a runway of like, 'No, this is what I'm gonna do full time and I'm gonna double down on this.' It really gave me a lot of validation.
What can’t she do? You can check out the interview moment in the clip below:
I’m pretty sure Saldaña could survive on her own in Pandora at this point. There’s one acquired skill she named that I want to talk about though.
I Love How One Of Her Skills Has A Neytiri Twist
As she said in our interview, she’s got solid archery proficiency, but it’s not the normal way one would shoot a bow and arrow. Zoe Saldaña knows how to be an archer “the Na’vi way”, which is sideways. What’s interesting about this little fun fact is that apparently shooting a bow and arrow this way is actually way harder and less precise than the typical way people do archery. So when she says she has good aim it's a really awesome flex. Especially, since she probably doesn’t have to target anything on set well if she doesn’t want to.
Zoe Saldaña has been playing Neytiri since she was 28 years old, and by her estimation she’ll be well into her fifties once the last one comes out. The Oscar winner just turned 48 last week, and the trilogy of movies has helped her become the highest-grossing actor of all time with her name on $15.46 billion across her lifetime so far.
Following Fire And Ash’s release during the holiday season, we’re not sure which direction Avatar will go next or if the franchise will “put on the brakes” after earning less money. Currently Avatar 4 and 5 are on the Disney movie release calendar for 2029 and 2031.
Right now you can see Zoe Saldaña’s Neytiri in the entire Avatar trilogy at home – on Disney+, digital or physical media.
