Cliff Curtis says that the "Avatar" sequels are director James Cameron's "opus masterpiece," drawing a parallel between them and his new action drama "Muru." "Thematically, what's interesting is they're both about family and they're both about Indigeneity and the response to an uncaring system [that] is not respecting the rights of the Indigenous people," Curtis said. "I'm very proud of that."
Of course, "Muru" is about a real-life incident that happened in a remote region of New Zealand, while the "Avatar" films take place in the far future on an entirely different planet. For Curtis, that meant vast amounts of time in a mo-cap suit, although he noted that his job doesn't change even if he's being digitally transformed into an alien.
"Good acting ... all comes down to finding something that rings true and honest," Curtis explained. "The more layers of technicality you put on it, the more crucial it is. You can't hide behind any of that stuff. If there's no core of something, an essence of seeking honesty and truth in what you're doing in your work, then all the tricks in the book aren't going to ... cover it up."
Nevertheless, Curtis noted that Cameron's team is pushing the boundaries of visual effects and filmmaking itself to their technological limit. "I'm going to try and paraphrase something that I heard [Cameron] and ['Avatar' producer] Jon Landau say," recalled Curtis. "It's something like this: 'We're not game-changing. We're evolving the game. This is the evolution of what we do.' I was like, 'Oh, wow' ... the evolution is game-changing as far as I'm concerned. It's amazing. It's incredible."
"Muru" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival; "Avatar: The Way of Water" opens in theaters on December 16, 2022.
