The ladies of “Avatar: The Way of Water” — Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Kate Winslet — have reunited for a good cause.
The film’s director, James Cameron, and Disney commissioned underwater photographer Christy Lee Rogers to photograph the actresses for the Nature Conservancy’s global Keep Our Oceans Amazing campaign.
Wrapped in purple and blue flowy dresses, the famous trio keeps their eyes closed in the painting-like colorful shots, including snaps of them all together, in pairs and solo.
Cameron, a longtime supporter of ocean conservation, said in a statement: “I have long admired Christy’s art and began collecting her works several years ago. Her unique style of shooting her subjects underwater naturally inspired me to suggest she do a special shoot with our cast.”
The artworks are available for purchase through Fraser Scott at A Gallery Artists Ltd. One hundred percent of net proceeds from art sales will go to TNC and help protect our oceans.
“The Way of Water” premiered in 2022, more than a decade after than the original “Avatar” film in 2009.
The newest installment grossed $2.3 billion at the worldwide box office and is the third highest-grossing film of all time. The first film occupied the No. 1 spot on that list, grossing $2.9 billion worldwide.
Saldana, 45, Weaver, 74, and Winslet, 48, likely relied on their “Way of Water” training for the TNC photo shoot. Cameron hired “the world’s best breath-hold specialists” ahead of the movie since they filmed in large water tanks so that his scenes would not look fake.
“I’m very competitive, but we had an Oscar-winning actress in our cast that did seven minutes,” Saldana told the New York Times about Winslet in November 2022. “I got almost up to five minutes. That’s a big accomplishment, you guys.”
“Five minutes is huge,” Cameron added. “Sigourney did six and a half.”
Weaver claimed she surprised her specialist with her breathwork, adding, “He said to get rid of your mammalian instinct to go, ‘Oh my God, my face is in the water.’ So you spend several minutes just putting your body back into that element and letting those land-person feelings dissolve.”