With various references to bounce off of, Letteri and the rest of the team at Weta Workshop began formulating a plan to bring Kiri to life. While they could certainly do a lot with special effects, the challenge of making the character truly feel real ultimately relied on Weaver’s motion-capture performance. Thankfully, she already had a very clear vision of what Kiri should be like, which she channeled into her performance.
“Sigourney’s performance, I think, was really critical,” said Letteri, “because when you watch Sigourney perform, she drops instantly into character as a 14-year-old girl. She’s fantastic at it.”
It’s not a secret that Weaver used memories and experiences from when she was a young girl as inspiration for Kiri. When news of the casting was announced in Empire Magazine, she referred to it as a challenge to both Cameron and herself.
“I think we all pretty much remember what we were feeling as adolescents. I certainly do,” Weaver recalled. “I felt strongly that Kiri would feel awkward a lot of the time. She’s searching for who she is.”
You can see Weaver re-channel her younger self in “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which is currently making a splash in theaters.