Avatar: The Way of Water star Kate Winslet reveals why her character is initially mistrustful of returning characters Jake and Neytiri. Although her character Ronal is a relatively minor one, as Winslet only filmed for one month of the project’s extended shoot, she will play a substantial role in the overall plot of the film. Ronal is a free diver and the wife of Tonowari (Cliff Curtis), the leader of the reef tribe known as Metkayina, to whom Jake and Neytiri turn to for help when the humans return to colonize Pandora. However, Ronal is much less trusting of the couple than her husband.
Collider recently sat down with Winslet ahead of the release of Avatar: The Way of Water. During the conversation, they discussed Ronal and her motivations. Winslet dug deep into the character, explaining why she might not be as eager to help out Jake and Neytiri as her husband. According to the actor, Ronal “is absolutely the matriarch,” and her number one priority is the protection of her family and tribe. Outsiders are an unknown quantity that she views as a potential threat. Read Winslet’s full quote below:
“I think what I felt was very important to convey is the sense that Ronal is absolutely the matriarch. She is the leader of her clan, and I think she will stop at nothing to protect that and to protect what they have created. They really care for and look after not just their family, but that entire village, that entire community, the Metkayina clan.
“So the idea that anything from the outside could pose any sort of threat is something that I think, as a mother, she just instinctively feels and feels very wary of. She loves her little tribe. She loves her family. She wants them to have their freedom and not be, in any way, I suppose, restricted or possibly threatened. It was important to me to really play that side of her.”
Where Are Jake and Neytiri’s Lives at the Beginning of Avatar: The Way of Water?
The characters Jake and Neytiri, played by Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, are the leads of both Avatar and Avatar: The Way of Water. However, a lot has changed since the events of the previous film, which was released more than a decade ago in 2009. The sequel will acknowledge that passage of time, taking place over a decade after the original film and allowing the originally human Jake plenty of time to settle into his new body as a Na’vi.
In that time, a lot has changed for both characters. The most prominent change is the fact that they become parents in the intervening years. Jake and Neytiri have five children overall, three of whom – Neteyam (Jamie Flatters), Lo’ak (Britain Dalton), and Tuktirey (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) – are biological. Of their adopted children, one is a Na’vi named Kiri (Sigourney Weaver, playing a teenager via mo-cap) and one is a human named Spider (Jack Champion), who was born on the Hells Gate base and abandoned when the mining outfit left the planet.
While the original Avatar followed Jake being exposed to the world of the Na’vi and falling in love with Neytiri, now their priorities have shifted. They both have a distinct attachment to the planet and their family, which they hope to protect. While plot details of Avatar: The Way of Water are still being kept tightly under wraps, the fact that their motivations align so closely with Ronal’s likely mean that the disparate tribes of Na’vi will eventually find some form of truce and work together to push back the human invasion despite their initial mistrust.
Source: Collider