James Cameron and Disney sued over unauthorized use of actress’ likeness in Avatar

James Cameron and Disney are facing a lawsuit over the alleged unauthorized use of actress Q’orianka Kilcher’s likeness during the production of the 2009 film Avatar. The lawsuit, filed by Kilcher, claims Cameron based the core personality of Neytiri on her without her permission.

Allegations and claims

Neytiri, the role played by Zoe Saldaña in the Avatar film series, is at the center of this legal battle. Kilcher says that after her performance as Pocahontas in Terrence Malick’s The New World (2005), Cameron instructed his design team to use her likeness from a set photo as the basis for Neytiri. Kilcher, who was 14 at the time, says she never gave permission for her likeness to be used in Avatar or any related products.

Meeting with Cameron

The lawsuit also says that Kilcher and Cameron met briefly shortly after the original Avatar was released at a charity event, where Cameron invited her to visit his office. When she visited about a week later, Cameron was not there, but his staff gave her a framed production sketch of a character, along with a handwritten note: “Your beauty was my early inspiration for Neytiri. Too bad you were working on another film. Next time.”

Kilcher said she believed the sketch was a personal gesture and never could have imagined her face was being used so systematically in the production process without her knowledge or consent. “That crosses a clear line. This act is deeply wrong,” Kilcher said.

Cameron’s explanation

According to an interview Kilcher recently saw, Cameron confirmed that he used her likeness for Neytiri. “The source for this was a photo that was in the LA Times promoting The New World. There is a young actress named Q’orianka Kilcher, who played Pocahontas in The New World. This is actually her lower face. She had a very interesting face,” Cameron said in the video.

Avatar’s impact

The original Avatar has grossed nearly $3 billion worldwide and remains the highest-grossing film of all time. The third film in the series, Avatar: Fire and Ash, was released in December last year. Plans for the fourth and fifth films are already underway, though Cameron recently said he needs to find ways to make them cheaper to produce in order to get them made.