Even before Avatar: Fire and Ash hit theaters, most of us had the exact same reaction. That badass fire chick is going to steal the show. And, once you’ve seen the film, you know that it’s 100% true. Varang, the head of the Ash Clan, played by Oona Chaplin, doesn’t just steal the movie; she changes how we view Pandora itself.
That’s because the character represents a Na’vi way of life that’s not so peaceful. A way of life built through pain and one that sets her and her people in direct opposition with Jake Sully and our heroes.
Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen Lang, realizes this and sees an opportunity. The enemy of his enemy is also his friend, and, at a certain point in the film, Quaritch makes a bold decision to align himself with Varang. The resulting scene is one of the most memorable in the film, and io9 talked to both the actors about it.
These aren’t major spoilers, but just in case, we’ll drop a spoiler warning.
The scene in question happens about halfway through the film when Quaritch goes to the home of the Ash Clan and proposes an alliance. Before she can agree, though, Varang takes Quaratich into her tent so they can be alone. They have a sexually charged flirt session before she drugs him, enabling her to find out if he’s being truthful. It’s a very sexy, visually stunning scene that we asked the actors about filming.
“For me, it required a trip down memory lane,” Lang told io9, which had the whole room laughing. “I’ve been there. Not for a long while, but I’ve been there. So I think there was a little bit of method going on there. But also, I’ll just say that there’s magic in Varang’s eyes as well. There’s power in the way Oona portrays the character. It’s very alluring, it’s very tempting, and it really draws you in. It was not a difficult scene to play in that respect.”
And while Lang focused on Chaplin and his past for his performance, Chaplin keyed in on something else.
“For me, for that scene, it was really important because that’s also the story of her origins,” Chaplin said. “She shares her origin story of why she is the way she is. And for me, dealing with a character that has had that much trauma, I really wanted to honor that. And so I spent a lot of time thinking about it, because I didn’t take it lightly. To have that much suffering and to really have to digest the loss of your whole way of life and your family, and then to use that and harness that as your power. Your suffering is your power. That’s really deep. So it’s like this whole trippy scene, and that’s cool. But for me, I was focusing more on that.”
Which, in a way, is the magic of the Avatar movies. Yes, they’re slick and impressive visually, but there’s real emotion there. Real characters. And sometimes you don’t even realize it until you’re crying while watching their fates be decided.
Check back Monday for our super spoiler breakdown of Avatar: Fire and Ash, which is now in theaters.
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