James Cameron is Zoe Saldaña’s Biggest Cheerleader After Her Oscars Win

Zoe Saldaña had many supporters cheering her on at the Oscars when she won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Rita in “Emilia Perez.” However, one of the loudest voices wasn’t in the room that night, but made sure she knew how happy he was for her and how much she deserved it.

Cameron Released a Statement in Support of His Leading Lady

“I was so happy to see Zoe acknowledged as the world-class performer we, in the ‘Avatar’ family, have always known her to be,” Cameron said in a statement to Variety after her Oscar win. “Her acceptance speech was a noble reminder of what immigrant families bring to the U.S. and to Hollywood.”

Saldaña won many awards for her portrayal in the divisive musical, including a Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Screen Actors Guild Award. Cameron followed her progress through the season, despite being immersed in the editing process of a film. When she won the Golden Globe, he contacted her within minutes.

“I was sitting in the audience, and I received a message from James Cameron, who’s somewhere in New Zealand right now, cutting ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash,'” she commented to the press (via Variety). “And he, after all these years, believes in me,” she said. “So that, to me, nourishes my desire to continue growing as an artist.”

His Time With Her on ‘Avatar’ Has Made Him One of Her Biggest Champions

Saldaña and Cameron have worked together since 2009’s “Avatar,” when she committed to all five “Avatar” films he planned to make. “I was 28 when I did the first movie, and I think — if all goes to plan — I’m going to be 53, 54 for the very fifth one and last one, yeah,” she informed Deadline. They’ve had a lot of time to get to know each other and she has often praised him in interviews.

“James Cameron is one of those rare men in the film industry that really isn’t threatened by women,” she told CNET a decade ago. “He lets you know with the characters he creates that he does spend time thinking about why women are who they are, why they think the way they do.”

For his part, Cameron has maintained his belief that Saldaña’s performance and emotional range as Neytiri is Oscar-worthy. “But because in my film she’s playing a ‘CG character,’ it kind of doesn’t count in some way, which makes no sense to me whatsoever,” he remarked to Variety.

“She can go from regal to, in two nanoseconds, utterly feral,” he continued. “The woman is ferocious. She is a freaking lioness. Her emotional availability is like a fire hose. It just comes through so fast and so powerfully.”