Why One Avatar Star Was Pleased With Smaller Role In Original Movie

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Why Avatar star Joel David Moore was pleased with his smaller role in the original movie, despite its massive impact on filmmaking.


Joel David Moore is actually glad that his romance plot was cut from the original Avatar. Though Moore played Dr. Norm Spellman, the scientist who studied under Dr. Grace Augustine and eventually comes to lead the AVTR program himself, the character has never played too large a role in the franchise. Still, while once affiliated with the Resources Development Administration, Spellman defects from the RDA to instead join the Na’vi of Pandora and study their customs.

Though some of the Na’vi are working with the RDA, Spellman has been playing a smaller role in Avatar as one of the few humans living with the Na’vi. Yet, there was originally going to be a significant subplot where Spellman would have fallen in love with Trudy (Michelle Rodriguez). While it would have meant a bigger role for Moore in Avatar, he was actually happy that the romance was cut, as he explained in an interview with ComingSoon. Check out his quote below:

“I was very happy because that … every movie that you make, you cut, right? So as a director, I’ve learned this. I directed my first feature at 25-26. So I think it was a really good lesson on not being offended when things were cut on the acting side of things. But you have to approach and edit story first. Of course, you want to make sure that the action sequences are correct and the characters are well-evaluated. But you have to take a holistic view of your entire 30,000-foot view and say, ‘What drives my story the best so an audience is satiated at the end of this movie?’ And every moment that Michelle and I worked together, we became good friends. And every moment that we had, from hanging out and partying in New Zealand all the way to our on set work, was so wonderful and so precious, but unnecessary for that story.

“The story was about our relationship with the Na’vi and how we were going to assimilate into their society, into their culture, and learn from them and adapt to the behaviors that the Na’vi had and learn how to survive and to then fend off the traditional bad guys who were then going to attack their way of life. I think that, again, you’re seeing this sort of cyclical storyline in the sequel as well. Why is that important? Because I think that what Jim is trying to do is teach a lesson about what we are dealing with here on planet Earth.”

Related: Avatar 2 Is Already Fixing 3 Big Problems From 2009


Why The Na’vi Play A Larger Role Than Humans In Avatar

Neytiri in the forest in Avatar

While audiences will more naturally be able to relate to the humans, the Na’vi have always been the heart of the Avatar franchise. The different Na’vi clans coming together to face off against colonizing humans is as interesting as it is surprising, given how many clans would otherwise be fighting among themselves. Still, even with the human involvement in clan politics, the Na’vi’s survival is generally more central than Sully’s conflicts about the Earth.

At their core, the Na’vi are the victims of the entire Avatar saga. Once just typical residents surviving on their planet, as they had long before humanity’s arrival, they are instead thrown into turmoil and war just because humans came to their home and declared it colonized. That the Na’vi are defending it from the invaders is as natural as their jungles or the connection that they have with Eywa.

Avatar doesn’t show life on Earth because life on Earth is irrelevant to the struggle of the true victims: The Na’vi. That Moore is more interested in telling their story is a testament to the focus of the franchise, as the invading humans are the villains, while the inhabitants of Pandora are the survivors. A love story may have been interesting, but it would have shifted attention from the struggles of the Na’vi, which is exactly what Moore and the other creators didn’t want.

More: Avatar: The Way Of Water Ending ExplainedSource: ComingSoon.net

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