Video:Avatar Laz Alonso Interview

Transcript:Avatar Laz Alonso Interview

Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the LA Premiere of 20th Century Fox's Avatar.

Laz Alonso - 'Tsu'tey' in Avatar

Did you do that on purpose?

Laz Alonso: "I did, but I didn't know that my guy here, my tribal leader here, was going to do the same."

What was it like wearing that performance capture suit and having the [performance capture] helmet?

Laz Alonso: "Well, in the very beginning we had to pay attention to how we performed with it because especially with the helmet cam, which was really the most important part of our outfit because that's what made this performance capture and not motion capture. With motion capture you see the rubber hats, but here they're actually capturing our face, our emotions, our eyes. That's why the say the most important shot in movies is the close-up, well here we had a close-up shooting us every single take, every single scene, every time we did it. And it was really important to Jim to not only preserve it for the sake of the film, but to make us feel like our performances are protected as well. I remember days where we would shoot for 15 hours, we'd come back at 7 in the morning and he was there still editing. And he would show us what he edited split-screen so that we could see our human self and our Na'vi self, and how much of our performance was there, you know? To have a director that's that dedicated to the actor and to the acting and to the story, just makes you feel like, 'Okay, this technology is in good hands.' Because it could very well end up in the wrong hands, and who knows what would happen."

I love that it's actually your eyes. It's the first time it's not the soulless, flat eyes in a performance capture.

Laz Alonso: "Yeah, I know. That was very important to him and I don't think he would have done it unless he felt confident that he could preserve that. And on a James Cameron set, there's no hierarchy when it comes to actors. The story is king. That's it. It's his script - that's all that matters. So when you're there you really feel a sense of you're doing something important here and that's because there's no ego. It's all about that moment and that story and finding it."

And you never felt like you were going to be overwhelmed by the technology?

Laz Alonso: "No. I mean the technology is one of the characters on the set. It's definitely present. You have to work within it. For example, my character did a lot of horseback riding. You have to be able to control the horse in a very small, limited space because if the horse gets out of control and goes out of the space, he'll break into a million pieces, the computer crashes, and we've got to wait an hour, you know? So then you've got Jim over there, like, 'All right, Laz, you said you rode horses. When we were going to hire you, you said you were comfortable on a horse. Now control him with no saddle and no hands and no reins.' You know what I mean? But we did it. We had some really experienced handlers on set. Everybody on set wanted to make this movie the best it could be. Everybody. From every job, every position, stunt guys, you name it. So we're all really proud of this movie. It's everybody's baby."

Are you ready to do it again?

Laz Alonso: "I would love to do it again."

Would you?

Laz Alonso: "Of course, with my eyes closed. Absolutely."

And you've got Straw Dogs too?

Laz Alonso: "Yeah, Straw Dogs. Hopefully I think it comes out next year. Rod Lurie directed it who also I'm a huge, huge fan of his work. It's funny because Rod will tell you he got his start with Jim. I don't remember how it happened, but he met Jim and they became friends and somehow he helped Rod get started in his career. You know, so you really felt a fine line of value when you're on that set. Their work ethic kind of resembles each other, as far as the concern for the end product."

You've worked with some great directors.

Laz Alonso: "I'm really proud of the directors I've had the opportunity to work with. I worked on Avatar from January to September, left to go to Italy to work with Spike Lee, came back from Italy started Fast and Furious here with Justin Lin. Wrapped that and went back on set to finish Avatar. That's how long we've been working on it, since '06."

Did you take a break?

Laz Alonso: "Heck no, I don't believe in breaks."

When do you sleep?

Laz Alonso: "I don't want to sleep, I want to work!"

I know why women are going to like this because I've seen the movie and I know what's in it, but they're not advertising it as a movie geared towards women. Why do you think women are going to like it?

Laz Alonso: "I think women are going to like it first and foremost because Jim is notoriously known to make strong women characters the heart and soul of his movies. You see that with Sigourney. You see that with the Terminator series. He really roots his films with strong female characters. And in this movie, Zoe Saldana is by far the heart and soul of this relationship between Sam Worthington with us, of the movie. She's passionate. She's just like amazing in this movie. And Jim knows how to make strong female characters an important part of the story, so I think women are going to respond to that. They're going to respond to the love story between her and Sam. And the good thing about this is guys still have enough action to where you don't feel like it's a love story. You're watching aliens and shoot 'em up and all kinds of explosions and stuff, so it gives a little bit to everyone."

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