David Thewlis has 'no idea' what's going on in 'Avatar 2' but he is playing 'a blue thing'

It would appear that British thesp David Thewlis is as much in the dark about Avatar 2 as anyone else. And he's in it.

In fact, the Harry Potter alumnus told Total Film that he was pretty surprised that he got offered the job in the first place, given his limited knowledge of the first movie.

“I’ve got no idea what my scenes will be like because there are about 16 guys in the room with video cameras but they’re just shooting reference shots for Jim [Cameron] to look at later," he said.

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“What those guys are shooting will never be on the screen, what’s being shot is obviously on these sensors. There are about 200 around the room, doing their thing. I am a Na’vi, I’m a blue thing in it – which I didn’t quite understand when I went to meet [Cameron].

“I was quite surprised when I got offered that. I’m fascinated to see how I’m going to look, because they sort of make them look a bit like oneself. It’s fantastic!”

He added that, due to the hi-tech nature of the movie, he feels a little out of his depth.

“For the first time, I felt like a total newcomer, like it was my first job,” he went on. “I was on set having been working for 35 years on film sets and I was like, 'So what do we do? What’s that doing here? Why is he doing that? Do we do it now?' I felt very naïve. And of course, I was, because none of the rules applied from everything I’ve learned.”

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Director James Cameron and his producer Jon Landau landed in Wellington yesterday to recommence filming of the movie, after the production was shut down by the coronavirus epidemic.

The pair will now enter a 14-day period of self-isolation before being able to return to work in New Zealand, where the movie is being filmed.

Landau recently let Kiwi news site RNZ into some basic plot details.

“This is the story of the Sully family and what one does to keep their family together,” he said.

“Jake and Neytiri have a family in this movie, they are forced to leave their home, they go out and explore the different regions of Pandora, including spending quite a bit of time on the water, around the water, in the water.

“I think, why do people turn to entertainment today, more so than ever? I think it's to escape, to escape the world we're in, to escape the other pressures they have in their lives.”

The movie is still aiming for release in December, 2021.