(Image Source: Pinterest, 20th Century Studios)
The "Avatar" franchise is reportedly facing a new lawsuit. Actress Q'orianka Kilcher, known for her role in the colonial-era war film "The New World," has filed a suit against director James Cameron, his production company Lightstorm Entertainment, and "Avatar" distributor Disney Pictures. Kilcher alleges that they misappropriated her likeness from when she was 14 years old to design the facial features of the Na'vi protagonist, Neytiri.
(Image Source: Pinterest, New Line Cinema)
In the lawsuit, Kilcher claims that Cameron, without her consent, unilaterally replicated her adolescent facial features and distributed the resulting sketches to multiple visual effects companies, which then sculpted Neytiri's appearance. Kilcher further states in the court documents that shortly after the first "Avatar" film was released, Cameron invited her to visit his office. However, on the day of the visit, Cameron was unexpectedly unavailable and instead had an employee present her with a hand-drawn sketch of Neytiri. The sketch reportedly bore a handwritten message from Cameron: "Your beauty was my inspiration for Neytiri. It's a shame you were filming another movie at the time; hope to work together next time."
At the time, Kilcher didn't connect much significance to the sketch. It wasn't until late last year that she stumbled upon an interview video of Cameron online. In the video, Cameron was reportedly standing in front of a Neytiri sketch and explicitly identified Kilcher as the prototype for the character, specifically noting that the lower half of Neytiri's face was derived from Kilcher's features. It was then, Kilcher states, that she realized her appearance had allegedly been extensively exploited for profit, becoming a moneymaking tool for Cameron and Disney.