I have to hand it to Bailey Bass: taking on Avatar 2: The Way of Water, the long-anticipated sequel to Avatar, the highest grossing film of all-time, couldn't have be the easiest gig for her first major movie role. And yet the 19-year old (who was barely 17 when filming wrapped in September 2020) does it with a remarkable sense of calm, appearing today on Zoom in Avatar-themed hair, makeup and styling during a press conference for the forthcoming film.
As for the look: her hair is in long braids – a nod to her Avatar 2 character, Tsireya – styled in a top knot with blue extensions woven in, while she wears iridescent blue eyeshadow which gives her eyes an otherworldly appearance, and she has on a cream halter-neck corset top from Brooklyn-based designer Tae Park. She truly embodies a rising star, whose role alongside Kate Winslet, Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in this film, set to be another huge box office hit, is surely the beginning of a long career, one which began at the age of two when her mother took her to be a baby model.
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The glamour of today’s look is a world away from the strenuous process of filming Avatar 2, a process which almost led to the accidental death of director James Cameron (the man behind both the original Avatar and Titanic), who almost drowned while diving into the giant underwater tank erected on set. In our interview, Bailey shares with me the experience of learning to scuba dive and free dive alongside her fellow cast members in the lead-up to this role, plus what it was like to act alongside her Hollywood heroes.
Hi Bailey, How are you? You look fabulous. How does it feel to be joining the giant franchise that is Avatar?
It's really exciting! I don't think I understood the grand scheme of it until now, when we’ve been doing all these interviews and I'm like, Wow, this movie is huge. Because while we're filming, we're just in a grey studio with our co-stars and it's very intimate. I was just six when the first movie broke box office records, so I didn't realise the magnitude of it at the time.
The world of Pandora is back.
Right, and the rating for the original Avatar movie was PG-12 [where parental guidance is required for children under the age of 12] – so you were a bit young when it came out. When did you first watch it?
I saw parts of it when I was eight, but I didn't really see all of it until the audition process. And they flew us out to LA, to watch it in 3D during the audition process. I remember paying attention to Zoe’s [Zoe Saldana’s] character, Neytiri, because my character is described as very similar to hers.
Yes, you’re the sort of a water-based version of Neytiri’s ‘hunter’ character, aren’t you? Tell me more about your character.
So I play Tsireya, who's part of the Metkayina Clan. This is the new clan that is introduced in Avatar: The Way of Water. They are a product of their environment: they’re surrounded by ocean, which means that they have to adapt to that. They are extremely great swimmers and you can see that by the definition in their arms, and really broad chests. They also have thin tails, so they can swim quickly in the water and their skin is a little bit more green. Along with that, Tsireya has a big heart and she grows very close to the Sully family at the beginning of the movie. And that bond continues throughout the rest of the film.
Tsireya is described as ‘graceful and strong’ in the promotional material around the film. Did you relate to her as a character?
She's kind, and I also tend to look at the world with empathy. I'm the nicest person in my family, even though I'm honest. Tsireya is the same way. We'll definitely tell you the truth, but sometimes the truth that you need to hear. A lot of people have self doubt, but Tsireya tends to be like a compass in this movie for sticking to who you are and staying grounded. But then she does have her challenges, which I'm excited for audiences to see. But it was great to stick to the empathy that she feels for others and the kindness in her heart.
I’d love to hear more about the challenges of working with the CGI [computer generated imagery] technology, which looks so incredible and vibrant on screen but, as you described it earlier, you were effectively in a grey studio, appearing as yourselves, not the CGI-enhanced versions. Did you have some element of hair, make-up and costume to help you get into the character?
We had our hair done. Tsireya has beautiful long curly hair that goes all the way down to her waist. So I would wear that on top of my head rig, so I would be aware of it – for instance, if I turn sharply in the water, it's going to be in front of my face. So I have to be aware of that when I am acting along with it. It's performance capture for a reason. It's our real, real performances translated into CGI and what does an incredible job of translating onto screen. But it's really us – every tear, every laugh, every smile we did on, on stage and then it gets translated to screen.
And how about the underwater element, as your character is a free-diver. Did you do any stunts in water, or was that all just computer-generated?
I had a bunch of training, and became scuba-certified! And I got to do free diving [which relies on breath-holding, rather than breathing apparatus like scuba]. It was really, really fun. We had a full, 30 foot deep tank on set, plus a full wave pool that was creating waves. We learned how to do breath holds – my breath hold got up to six minutes and 30 seconds, and my longest scene underwater was five minutes.
That's insane! What was that process like, learning to hold your breath for all that time?
We had an extremely supportive cast and crew, and we were ready to buckle down and do the work. And we were taught by the best of the best, including Kirk Krack, a record-holding freediver who was a trainer and safety consultant on set. He taught us everything from putting on a wetsuit, which many of us have never done before, to learning to hold our breath, to playing games underwater. Just to get used to swimming, and to equalising our ears. It was months of training before we even stepped onto the set. But it was important that we filmed underwater so we could understand our surroundings. That’s something that's never been done before on screen – it's revolutionary. We even trained in Hawaii and that's where I got scuba certified because Jim [James Cameron, the director] wanted us to feel the sand and to know what the waves feel like on our skin. So then, when we swam in the tank, we could understand the environment.
And you learnt to scuba dive too, even though in the tank you were free diving?
Yes, the scuba certification was so I could go deep, like 60 feet, into the water, and be able to swim with creatures for extended periods of time. I got up close and personal with turtles, fish, sea urchins, the coral reef… so then when I was playing Tsireya, a character that spends so much of her time underwater, I was able to relate my performance to real-life experience.
Again, this is blowing my mind! And then when you were in the tank, did you have any sea animals or props in there in order to aid your performance?
Well they built a full rig to represent this new creature the character ride called an ilu, like an underwater version of the direhorses they ride in the first film. We’d be holding it and swimming along with it, and then a stunt person would be underneath controlling it. On screen, that translates into us riding this creature. And then there were pool noodles of course, which were the trees…
Pool noodles! That's funny. Obviously in this film you acted alongside the likes of Kate Winslet – did you have any advice from your older, more experienced colleagues on how to navigate your acting career going forward? As you’re still so young at 19, and I’m sure you have a long career ahead of you.
Zoe Saldana shared with me the power of ‘no’. Being a woman in this industry is very different from the experience of a man, and our ‘No’ is sometimes not taken as seriously. So to get that advice and support from Zoe, who has accomplished so much in her career and who has done so much for women and women of colour, is wonderful. And honestly Kate, Zoe, Sam [Worthington], Sigourney [Weaver], they were all slaying. And in those moments between scenes, it didn’t feel like we were just looking up to them – we were all equals.
Did you ever get starstruck?
I definitely had my moments! I screamed when I saw Zoe on set because I didn't know she was gonna be there, and then I saw her walk in and I screamed and hid because I just can't take it. Then I saw her later and she gave me the biggest hug. Same with Kate – I was speechless, and she just gave me a hug and said she was so excited to be on set. They just come in with such professionalism and such excitement to create that it calms everyone's nerves because we know that we're equals here. We're just creating art.
Did you have any cast & crew social events while you were filming? What was the highlights?
Honestly, most of the time I just went to bed after filming. But I do remember laser tag – we went to Hurrcane Harbor Six Flags in Los Angeles [a theme park venue] a bunch of times, which was awesome. And we did rollercoaster rides there. Also, one of the best bonding experiences was when we all went to, we did a photo shoot at Pandora in Disney World [an Avatar-themed area in Disney World, Florida] and we got to watch the sunrise there together, then spend the day riding on the Flight of Passage [a 3D flying simulator attraction within Disney World’s Pandora].
Finally, family is a theme at the heart of the Avatar franchise. You mentioned your family earlier, would you say you also have strong family values?
Oh, 100%. My mum goes everywhere with me. She is my number one support system. I would not literally not be here if it wasn't for her, because she put me in modelling when I was two, which started my career. I'm from Brooklyn, New York, but I'm also Belarusian through my grandparents and we’re a brutally honest culture. They don’t sugar-coat anything – they will always tell me the truth, and that pushes me to be better, stronger and prepared for everything. It’s a big part of who I am today. My family means the world to me. This is my first press tour and I can't wait to have them next to me for all my premieres and just seeing their smiles, because I wouldn’t be here without their support.
Avatar 2: The Shape of Water is out in UK cinemas from 16 December.
