Sigourney Weaver made her first trip to Pandora in 2009's "Avatar," in which she played exobiologist Dr. Grace Augustine. Even though the character was killed, Weaver nabbed an unlikely role in "Avatar: The Way of Water" as Kiri, the 14-year-old adopted daughter of Jake (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña).
Kiri is one of the most vital new characters in the "Avatar" universe; the daughter of Dr. Augustine, Kiri boasts a unique connection to the environment and Eywa. Still, for some fans, casting a now-73-year-old actress as a teenager was a bridge too far. "It really didn't work at all," wrote @chadwickb082820 on Twitter. "The movie is great but it was so jarring." Some thought that the unconventional casting choice was a missed opportunity to lean into the themes of reincarnation. "Sigourney Weaver playing Kiri was an interesting idea and could lead to some solid world building with reincarnation and the world tree and the like," posited Redditor u/PeterCastiglione, "but the performance...IDK...I could really see this was an adult trying to play a child."
Others still felt that Weaver's performance felt less naturally youthful when sharing scenes with her younger cast mates — an unfortunate "how do you do, fellow kids" juxtaposition.
