Sigourney Weaver Responds to Concerns About Kissing Scene with Teen ‘Avatar’ Co-Star

Sigourney Weaver has addressed concerns about a romantic scene in Avatar: Fire and Ash that involved her character, Kiri, and the teenage human Spider, played by Jack Champion.

The scene, which includes a kiss between the two characters, raised questions because of the real-life age difference: Weaver is 76, while Champion was between 14 and 16 at the time of filming.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Weaver explained how the filmmakers handled the scene carefully. “That scene where I say, ‘You’re perfect just as you are,’ we had to be very delicate about that scene because it included a kiss,” she said. “Obviously, I wasn’t going to kiss Jack, who was 14 or 15, in real life.”

Weaver returned to the Avatar franchise after originally playing the adult scientist Grace Augustine in the first film. In the sequels, she portrays Kiri, a teenage Na’vi-Avatar hybrid cloned from Grace’s avatar and adopted by Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña). In Avatar: Fire and Ash, Kiri and Spider grow close and share a romantic moment on screen.

To make the scene safe and appropriate, Weaver and director James Cameron asked Champion to suggest someone he could kiss, and an age-appropriate actor was used for the actual filming.

“That concern about all of that, which is quite legitimate, was going on,” Weaver said. “And I’m glad the scene survived, because when I saw it, I believed it. It’s so genuine between the two of them, and any concern about Jack’s real age and my real age, I think there’s no room for it there.”

Weaver added that this was the only scene where she and Champion filmed separately. “It was only that one moment,” she said. “It was like a little vacation whenever we had a scene [together] because we’re frolicking. It’s kind of a time off for me because she’s so deliriously happy; she enjoys his company so much. I love that we’re mismatched. It’s perfect.”

Champion also spoke about filming the scene with Weaver in a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly. “I’ve been asked, ‘Is it difficult?’ But since Sigourney is Sigourney, she’s so good at acting, and we’re literally in a performance-capture Volume where it’s gray. We know that our imagination is our main weapon,” he said.

He added that he and Weaver had instant chemistry. “I think we maybe had one scripted scene, but then for the next like 30 minutes, Sigourney and I just literally riffed. We really just used our imagination, and it was fun.”

The actors’ careful approach ensured the scene was filmed safely while still feeling authentic on screen.

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