Sigourney Weaver Clarifies How Spider & Kiri’s Big Moment Was Filmed In Avatar: Fire And Ash

Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Avatar: Fire and Ash.

Avatar: Fire and Ash features an unexpected development between Kiri and Spider, with Sigourney Weaver explaining how the scene was filmed. After playing the human Dr. Grace Augustine in Avatar, Weaver plays her Na’vi teenage daughter in The Way of Water and Fire and Ash.

Kiri grows up alongside Spider, played by Jack Champion, and the bond between the two characters deepens in the third movie. This leads to Kiri telling Spider that he is perfect the way he is, along with a kiss happening between the two characters. While the film was shot several years ago, Weaver is now 76 years old and Champion is 21.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Weaver clarified that she and Champion did not film the kiss scene together. They filmed it separately, with her kissing someone more age-appropriate, and she assumes that he did the same. Read Weaver’s explanation below:

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. Obviously I wasn’t going to kiss Jack, who was 14 or 15, in real life. We asked Jack to pick someone I could kiss and he did. Then I imagine when I wasn’t there, they picked someone appropriate for Jack. That concern about all of that, which is quite legitimate, was going on. 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.

When asked whether she and Champion filmed all their other scenes together, Weaver confirms that they did, with the kiss being the only exception. She touches on how Spider was a later addition to the Avatar movies that she is grateful for, along with praising Champion’s performance.

Yes, it was only that one moment. I thought Jack was just terrific in the film. It’s such an interesting role. It’s also the role that Jim Cameron put in after he’d written two, three, and four. He had told me about this human boy before he started writing it, and I guess at a certain point he went for it. It just drives the whole film, that incredible tension in a mixed-race family where the parents have completely opposite feelings and the children don’t have those feelings. I thought it would really resonate in our complicated world.

It was like a little vacation whenever we had a scene 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 don’t know how tall I’m supposed to be, like 6’4, and he’s what, 5’8 or something, and I tower over him — and you can really see it in the film. Being a tall woman myself, height doesn’t matter at all. I love that we’re mismatched. It’s perfect.

Weaver’s comments connect to what James Cameron shared with Entertainment Weekly about Spider, explaining that he tried writing the movies without the character, who poses many logistical challenges when filming scenes with the much taller Na’vi. Ultimately, the filmmaker realized that Spider could not be cut as he was essential to the story.

We knew it was gonna be hard to shoot an actor in live action and surround that character with all these people that are twice his size [in performance-capture suits]. I knew it was gonna be all kinds of scale stuff and it was gonna be horrific to do, which it was. I tried to write him out, and it didn’t work. It all fell apart because now Jake and Quaritch are only just two guys trying to kill each other. It’s too simple.

If they are entangled through this kid that Jake has raised, as Quaritch tries to define his identity as this reincarnation of a former person whose memories he’s imprinted with, part of his identity is as the father of this boy. So it becomes important to him in his own identity quest to try to be that father. Now, Spider doesn’t want the enemy of the people that he loves to be his father. In movie 3, we see that dance, that father-son relationship continuing, but that puts Jake and Quaritch into an odd alliance.

Spider not only adds more nuance to the conflict between Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and the Nav’vi Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), but he is also essential to Kiri’s growth. Beyond enjoying each other’s company, they forge a deeper connection through their shared experiences with Eywa and to Pandora itself.

They are forever changed after Kiri follows her instincts and uses her unique abilities to enable Spider to safely breathe without a mask on Pandora. During Avatar: Fire and Ash‘s ending, they are able to connect to the Spirit Tree and reach Eywa for help during the final battle. They also go to the Spirit World, where Spider is accepted as one of the Na’vi.

The romantic and spiritual bond between Kiri and Spider will likely continue to be explored in the upcoming Avatar movies. There is a confirmed time jump for the next installment, so the two characters will be older than in Avatar: Fire and Ash, which will add new dimensions to their evolving relationship.