What role does Oona Chaplin play in Avatar: Fire & Ash? Charlie Chaplin's granddaughter compares James Cameron to the veteran comedian

Oona Chaplin, who plays the role of Varang, the leader of the Ash people of the Mangkwan Clan in the movie Avatar: Fire and Ash, recently opened up about portraying the character under the direction of James Cameron. In her recent interview with The Sunday Time, published last week, Oona Chaplin explained how her grandfather, Charlie Chaplin, would have been interested in the film, and further went on to compare James Cameron to the great comedian. She said:

"I think he would have been on board. I think James Cameron is probably one of the closest things we have to Chaplin now, even though they’re really different. They know what they’re talking about, so people listen.

She further spoke about Cameron's approach on set "how playful he is. Whenever we were doing a fight scene, he’s right in there, rolling around on the floor"

Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third installment in the Avatar movie franchise, was released last week on Friday, December 19. According to Deadline, the film, which stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldaña, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Kate Winslet, Oona Chaplin, and others, has broken several box office records. It reportedly has the second-highest opening day earnings for James Cameron, with $345 million in global earnings, following Avatar: Way of the Water, which was released in 2022.

More about Oona Chaplain and her role as Varang in Avatar: Fire and Ash movie, as she opens about her character and working with James Cameron

Oona Chaplin, whose full name is Oona Castilla Chaplin, was born on June 4, 1986, to actress Geraldine Leigh Chaplin and Chilean cinematographer Patricio Castilla. Her mother is the fourth child of Charlie Chaplin, the first child with his fourth wife, Oona O'Neil. Just like her mother and grandfather, Oona Chaplin pursued a career in entertainment, with one of her other notable roles being Talisa Maegyr in Game of Thrones.

According to reports, Oona Chaplin plays the role of ferocious leader of the Na'vi people. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, she explained how she was living in a remote treehouse in Cuba when she received the call for an audition in James Cameron's film. She said:

"There are not a lot of things that would have gotten me out of my treehouse, but a call to meet Jim Cameron definitely did."

She further added:

"It was one of the most surreal moments of my life,” Chaplin says. “He’s one of my heroes — Aliens! Terminator! Titanic! I was very starstruck. But very quickly he very much put me at ease because he just felt like a kid that wants to play. We did a scene, and he was all involved and engaged. He put his full body into it.”

On the other hand, in his interview with the outlet, James Cameron explained how Oona Chaplin captivated him during the audition process, calling her performance "mesmerizing" which ultimately pushed him to move forward with her casting despite several bigger names having auditioned for the specific role.