James Cameron filmed to avoid the “Stranger Things effect” with the young Avatar actors

The chance for James Cameron to poke fun at yet another massive series has arrived, and Stranger Things is next in line. The blockbuster filmmaker has stated that one of the main reasons for shooting Avatar 2–4 so quickly was to prevent the “Stranger Things effect,” which occurs when young actors look too old to play children as a result of natural ageing.

And I love Stranger Things, but else you get the Stranger Things effect, where they’re supposed to be in high school but look like they’re 27,” says Cameron to Entertainment Weekly. “As you well know, the show is fantastic. Let’s just pretend this is true for the time being. The story’s characters are appealing to us.

During filming, Jack Champion, who plays the Spider, “grew like a weed,” and this was his primary concern. Champion was cast as Jake Sully in the Avatar sequels when he was only 12 years old, and he finally finished filming those films when he was 16 years old.

Given that in The Way of Water, 73-year-old Sigourney Weaver plays a teenage character thanks to CGI, the “ageing out” concern seems, well, pointless. Cameron was unable to freeze time for Champion, and his physical changes between years 14 and 16 may be seen in Avatar: The Way of Water.

“I’m 14 in certain sequences and 16 in others,” Champion tells The Hollywood Reporter. “So then I was like, ‘Wait a second, I seem somewhat more chubby,'” she said. ”Then in a different scene, I’m a couple of inches taller and have abs. This world can be a little strange at times.”

However, as Champion points out,

“it’s not like they had the anti-aging medicine from the movie; they just did some CGI stuff. We had to let puberty play out; it’s inevitable.”

After the immediate and overwhelming success of The Way of Water, everyone attached to the film is eagerly anticipating the arrival of Avatar 3, production on which is nearly complete.

“[Avatar 3] completely floored me. It just veers sharply to the left, which is not necessarily a negative thing. Champion warns that just when you think you know where the sequel is heading, a wrecking ball will come and destroy your assumptions. So, “Oh wow, I never thought that would’ve happened,” you exclaim. More of Pandora and its cultures are shown to you. Personally, I enjoy it more than Avatar 2. They’ll all improve if they work together.