Video:Avatar Zoe Saldana and Dileep Rao Interviews

Transcript:Avatar Zoe Saldana and Dileep Rao Interviews

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

Zoe Saldana – 'Neytiri' in Avatar

So I know it's such an action-packed role, but how do you make sure the technology and everything doesn't overwhelm your character? What did you bring to her?

Zoe Saldana: "By sticking to your director and to the actors, and knowing that we fell in love with this story, primarily. And the technology can only enhance what is already there. And that's exactly what it did. The visual imagery of this movie is going to blow you away. But it's going to come secondary to the fact that James Cameron has been known for being an amazing storyteller. And this film is not deprived of that. From the characters to the plot to the planet to the love story, it's going to leave such an impact in your heart that I'm going to find it really hard for people not to be using tissues in the theater."

Are you ready to do it again?

Zoe Saldana: "Yes, I'm ready."

What was the strangest thing about taking on this role?

Zoe Saldana: "The strangest part for me was speaking English with a Na'vi accent. I have very thick Queens, New York, accent and it was the most challenging. And it wasn't the martial arts and it wasn't the archery and it wasn't the horseback riding or the fighting, it was that."

What was your reaction to the completed film?

Zoe Saldana: "I've seen it two times already in its finished form and I can't get enough of it."

Dileep Rao – 'Dr Max Patel' in Avatar

Dileep Rao: "This is the thing: I don't want to give away so much of this movie that when you go in, the huge surprise of what it has in it…it's not like some twist or something. But my describing it to you A) robs you of seeing it virgin, and B) I can't do it justice. No one can. It's a visual completely film-based thing. You can't just talk about it later and be like, 'Oh, we talked about Avatar. Now we know what it is.'"

Exactly. When I wrote my review of it I was like, "I don't even know how to describe this movie."

Dileep Rao: "It's like dancing about architecture. Talking about acting is like dancing about architecture. And talking about movies is a little like dancing about architecture. It doesn't really make much sense. You can summarize plot or, 'There's this really cool scene…,' but it doesn't in any way capture the kinetic nature of watching that stuff happen, and the experience you have of it when you can't stop seeing it, you know?'"

What was your first reaction after you saw the completed film?

Dileep Rao: "My brain was agog, my mouth was agape. I honestly, I mean people say that as an exaggeration a lot, I couldn't even really form the words to say what I was feeling. It was like a hallucination, like a mesmerizing hallucination. I'm excited to see it again because I don't know if I saw it all. It's so rich. It's like the richest meal you had and you want to eat it again. When a great chef makes you a meal, you want to eat it again. And this is like that."

What was it like on the set without the performance capture suits?

Dileep Rao: "You know, we integrated a lot of their work into our set so it was a lot of like, 'You're acting with this.' But the great thing about it is if it's not there, you can go over to the monitor and say, 'Oh yeah, there it is,' because it's already there. That's sort of the revolutionary technology we have. It made our jobs a lot easier. It also made it a much more integrated story. It wasn't so piecemeal, even though filmmaking is a piece by piece – like pointillism – it's done by thousands of people – this had more of a relationship between all the dots as they were coming together."

I've seen it so I know who you play, but for those who haven't seen it, tell us who you play.

Dileep Rao: "I play Dr Max Patel, one of the scientists who helps administer the avatar program. I help get Jake, Sam Worthington's character, and Joel David Moore's character, Norm, I help get them set up and started on their avatars. I'm sort of…there's a conflict in the movie and I'm on one side of that. I'm not going to say which one."

And you've also got Inception.

Dileep Rao: "I do."

And that's another one you can't say anything about, right?

Dileep Rao: "Nothing."

At least tell me what it's like to be with Christopher Nolan.

Dileep Rao: "It's an honor and it's hard work. And it's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun."

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