Sigourney Weaver channelled teenage self into new Avatar role

Sigourney Weaver channelled her teenage self into 'Avatar: The Way of Water'.

The 73-year-old actress portrays 14-year-old Kiri, a Na'Vi, in the long-awaited sequel to 2009's 'Avatar' and she used her memories of being "self-conscious" but imaginative at the same age to drive her performance.

She said: "I usually wore black turtlenecks and an olive-green suede jumper/tunic thing. It was kind of like a beatnik outfit, I guess.

"I think it’s a great age, you know? Kids are so imaginative at that age – they’re so sensitive, easily hurt, easily thrilled and they see things so clearly. I tried to allow that self-conscious, awkward energy [I had] to flow into the character."

Sigourney starred in the original 'Avatar' film but her character Grace, a scientist, was killed off towards the end and she had every confidence in director James Cameron when he pitched an idea for her to return to the franchise in a different way.

She told You magazine: "I thought, 'Well, Jim is smart. If he thinks I can do this, let’s give it a whirl!'

"I don’t think John Wayne was asked to play a 14 year old when he was in his 70s. It’s something new."

A lot of the film is set underwater so the cast underwent a year of free-diving training with US Navy Seals and Sigourney can now hold her breath for six and a half minutes while submerged.

She laughed: "It does remind you a little bit of those great British adventurers like Captain Cook, who went on these amazing sailing ships to the other side of the world."

The 'Aliens' actress is very proud of her work, admitting she has had "exactly the career [she] wanted", although she insisted that doesn't mean she has "all the answers".

She said: "I think that it’s OK to not have all the answers, you know? People look at me like I have answers to things. I don’t. I’m just in the pond along with everybody else."