The other week came a photo showing Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet shooting an underwater scene for the “Avatar” sequel, one in which she’s in a wet diving suit with a pair of huge wings strapped to her back.
Speaking with Collider recently to promote “Ammonite,” Winslet confirmed the wings are going to show up in the actual scene as part of a “big ceremonial sequence”. The actress has previously spoken about being able to hold her breath for up to seven minutes to shoot scenes for this and that came into play in this sequence:
“The thing is, when you can hold your breath for seven minutes, you become unafraid. Actually, strangely, I was able to rely on my own ability to hold my breath for that long. Somehow I was not afraid, at all. And there’s so much safety underwater. There are two safety divers on every performer. There are two safety divers on every underwater camera. There were so many people in that tank. I probably felt safer down there than I did on dry land.”
Winslet also says the extensive training in deep-sea diving that she did became an incredibly calming experience for her:
“I found the whole thing incredibly calming. There was something very meditative to me, and I don’t meditate. I can’t switch my brain off. I’m too busy. I love doing yoga, but I can only do it for about 25 minutes, and then I’m making lists. I get bored and I have to stop.
But somehow, learning how to breath-hold was one of the most calming things I’ve ever done because you have to slow your body down. You actually have to lower your heart rate to be able to oxygenate your body and subsequently hold your breath for that long. So, I had no choice but to stop f–king moving, which is not normal for me.”
Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, Edie Falco, Oona Chaplin, Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, and David Thewlis co-star in the film which arrives in theaters on December 16th 2022.