It's all about 'Avatar'

Portland native Moore plays key role in James Cameron epic, and relishes in Oscars fanfare

By JASON VONDERSMITH

The Portland Tribune, Mar 4, 2010 (1 Reader comment)

Actor and Portland native Joel David Moore stars in the highest grossing film of all time, 'Avatar,' which earned nine Oscar nominations at this Sunday’s Academy Awards.

Kevin Winter / GETTY IMAGES

Joel David Moore will be in attendance at the Academy Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles when a little feature film called “Avatar” will surely be highlighted early and often.

For Moore, a Portland native, being part of an epic film that has made nearly $2 billion worldwide, earned nine Academy Awards nominations and set industry standards for creativity and technology has been an extraordinary experience.

“It’s been such a crazy ride, the entire experience,” he says. “Just from spending 2 1/2 years shooting something … usually you spend two or three months. It was a long commitment, and you know you’re going on a ride with (director) James Cameron and it’s going to be special and epic.

“You don’t know how an audience is going to receive something; I had seen a lot of (the film) up until the London premiere, but until I saw it together I really didn’t know. Expectations were through the roof. We knew we were on the forefront of technology and creativity and making a movie that was taking a lot of chances. There is always a risk, but it tends to pay off with that guy (Cameron). It was fantastic.”

Moore played “Norm Spellman,” an anthropologist and one of three humans-turned-”avatars” who encounter the world of the Na’vi on the planet Pandora in the year 2154. The aggressive, greedy human explorers and the peaceful Na’vi reach conflict, with the avatars caught in the middle. The movie stars Sam Worthington as the disabled veteran “Jake Sully,” an avatar who falls in love with a Na’vi woman, played by Zoe Saldana, and the people’s aboriginal way.

COURTESY OF 20TH CENTURY FOX • 'Avatar' earned nine Oscar nominations at this Sunday’s Academy Awards.

There were many poignant moments in the movie, Moore, says, but three stand out (spoiler alert):

• When Sam’s and Zoe’s characters are engaged in a seven-minute scene, flying their tamed dragon-birds. “It’s one of the most beautiful scenes in cinema history,” Moore says. “Not a word said, just flying. I think every single person forgets they are computer generated characters. It’s a beautiful moment.”

• The exobiologist/avatar “Dr. Grace Augustine,” played by Sigourney Weaver, dies even with the Na’vi people fighting for her life at the “Tree of Souls.” Says Moore: “While shooting, it felt like a big moment, but I was just doing my part … I’m glad that moment stands out. Very touching.”

• And, when the humans and their war machinery lay waste to the Na’vi’s tree home, it drew Moore to tears watching the part on screen. “It is emotionally staggering, one of the most important scenes for storytelling and captivating your audience,” he says. “So many reflections of scenes from our lives, like 9/11 and natural disasters, you can draw upon your own imaginations. It helps us understand the issue of the powerful majority taking advantage of the weak minority.”

In the end, Moore’s avatar dies, but his human form lives on for … a sequel? A trilogy?

Moore has been quoted he has signed on for a sequel, which he amends by saying he and others have agreed with Cameron on a movie in the future.

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