Avatar Tid-Bits

An interview with a cast member of...Avatar!

Christina Radish: What can you say about the film and who you play in it?

Laz Alonso: Unfortunately, I can’t say anything because that was part of what we signed. None of us are allowed to talk at all about the script or what the story is about. All I can say is that the technology is something that no one has ever seen or used before. We were being filmed by 197 cameras, simultaneously, in real time. It was something that took two and a half years to do, and when you see it this December, you’re going to know why it took that long. It is just unrivaled by anything that my eyes have ever seen in cinema. It blew me away, when I saw some of the finished scenes.

Christina: How does it affect your performance when you’re dealing with all of that technical stuff?

Laz: It affects the beginning and the end of the day because there’s a huge process. It literally takes over an hour to prepare and get synced in with the technology that they’re using, in addition to make-up and all the other stuff you have to do. So, there’s a whole ritual that takes place, at the beginning of the day, but once you get on set with Jim, you literally get transported into a different place. Once you’re there, you’re there, and you don’t leave for the next 15 hours, until you wrap. Working with him, you work long hours, but then you get to set the next morning and he’s cut the scene that you did the day before, and you realize that he never got any sleep. You’re a foot soldier and this guy is at war, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, when he finds something that he’s passionate about, and he’s passionate about this movie. That’s why I know the movie is going to do well.

So at least we know umm nothing still...except 197 cameras were used at one time and the film will change the way we feel about cinema forever (tm). Apart from those little nuggets of non-information, even by saying diddly squat, I still feel excited deep down. And so should you reader, so should you.