Kate Winslet is diving back into the waters of Pandora in Avatar 3. James Cameron confirmed to People of Winslet’s return as Ronal, suggesting an expanded role for the Oscar-winning actress who took lessons from a real-life shaman in preparation for it.
“When you see her doing that purification ritual to try to revive Kitty in the film and some of the stuff that she’s going to do in movie three, that’s based on actual practice,” Cameron said.
It was in 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water that we first meet Ronal, influential wife to the chief of the Metkayina, the reef people. It is them who take in a fleeing Jake, Neytiri, and the rest of their family. Ronal is a fierce warrior and protector of her clan, but also a healer. Winslet underwent extensive training in free diving for the role, holding her breath for over seven minutes, a new record for any film scene shot underwater.
Kate Winslet broke Tom Cruise's underwater filming record from Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation (2015) of six minutes with a record of seven minutes and 14 seconds. #Avatar pic.twitter.com/R2Wh22RcqP
— Sinefesto EN (@sinefesto_en) January 2, 2023
Cameron told GQ about about the upcoming Avatar sequel…
“We’re seeing new cultures, new creatures—all the same stuff you’d expect from an Avatar movie, but the whole idea of this cycle of films is to live with these people and go on this epic journey with them. So I think it’s not about, ‘We’re going to show you the best water [VFX] ever done’ — but you get more into the heart and soul of the characters. And there’s some very interesting new characters that come in as well. This is a journey over time. It will play out through movie three, into movie four and movie five. There’s an epic cycle to the whole thing.”
Avatar 3 is currently set to arrive on December 19th 2025.
