Marc Maron Recalls His Visit to James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’ Studio: ‘WTF Is Happening Here?’

Zack Sharf
·2 min read
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During Kate Winslet’s recent interview on Marc Maron’s “WTF” podcast, the host made a surprise revelation that he once visited James Cameron’s massive “Avatar” studio in Manhattan Beach for an audition and left weirded out by the insanity of the “Avatar” set. Maron did not disclose the specifics of his audition for Cameron (one can only assume it was for the “Avatar” sequels), but he did share with Winslet the overall confoundedness he felt during his visit.

“He had me come down there to audition for something, to look at me for something,” Maron said. “I had to go down there to that city he built, the ‘Avatar’ city and it was the weirdest thing. I walk in and he was like, ‘We’ve got actors in here working all the time, flying around and stuff. So if you want to come into a set and we’ll just do it.’ I was like, ‘What the fuck is happening here?'”

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Winslet could relate to Maron’s experience after filming her scenes for several “Avatar” sequels back in 2018. Cameron is planning four sequels to his 2009 blockbuster and shot the first two so interchangeably that Winslet often had no clue for which sequel she was filming scenes.

“I lost track of how many he is making at once,” Winslet said. “I did two at once, in tandem with him. All my work was in 2018…It’s an extraordinary experience. You go into this huge aircraft hanger and anything is possible. You want to fly today? You want to do some spear fighting underwater? Sure, we’ll do it. It was wonderful for me to be a part of such a well-oiled machine, with such great artists and technicians.”

Winslet said “it was amazing” to be collaborating with her “Titanic” director Cameron again, especially because he’s a more confident director on set all these years later. As Winslet explained, “He’s got a lot more time to make [‘Avatar’] than he ever had with ‘Titanic.’ There’s a process he’s entered into, a rhythm, that’s really quite relaxed. He’s so intricately connected with that entire world because he created it, so there’s a confidence in him that breathes collaboration and conversation.”

Cameron approached Winslet on the first day she showed up to the “Avatar” studio for a table read and warned that everyone had “drunk the Kool Aid” and not to be freaked out by cast and crew speaking the fictional Na’vi language to one another. Winslet said “there is a proper immersive experience” to entering the world of “Avatar.”

“Avatar 2” is scheduled to open in theaters from Disney on December 16, 2022.

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