Avatar James Cameron

• Sam Worthington as Corporal Jake Sully, a disabled former Marine who becomes part of the Avatar Program after his twin brother is killed. His military background helps the Na'vi warriors relate to him. Cameron cast the Australian actor after a worldwide search for promising young actors, preferring relative unknowns to keep the budget down.[28] In the beginning, Cameron offered the role to Matt Damon, with a 10% stake in the film's profits, but Damon turned the film down because of his commitment to The Bourne Ultimatum.[29] Other notable actors who auditioned for the part include Chris Pratt and Chris Pine with the studio pushing Jake Gyllenhaal to play the role, but Gyllenhaal turned the film down because he wished to focus on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time instead[30][31][32] Ultimately, the three finalists for the role were Channing Tatum, Chris Evans, and Worthington, with Cameron ultimately going with Worthington.[33] Worthington, who was living in his car at the time,[34] auditioned twice early in development,[11] and he has signed on for possible sequels.[35] Cameron felt that because Worthington had not done a major film, he would give the character "a quality that is really real". Cameron said he "has that quality of being a guy you'd want to have a beer with, and he ultimately becomes a leader who transforms the world".[36]
  • Worthington also briefly appears as Jake's deceased identical twin, Dr. Tom "Tommy" Sully.
• Zoe Saldaña as Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite, daughter of the leaders of the Omaticaya (the Na'vi clan central to the story), and the clan's spiritual leader in training. She is attracted to Jake because of his bravery, though frustrated with him for what she sees as his naiveté and stupidity. She serves as Jake's love interest.[37] Charisma Carpenter was set to play the role (At that time, the character was known as "Zuleika Te Kaha Polenoma"[38]). But by the time the film had been greenlit in 2006, Carpenter had become too old for the role and was thus not cast. Cameron then began a worldwide search for actresses to play the role, with Q'orianka Kilcher being considered and Emily Blunt auditioning for the role.[39][40][41] Eventually, Cameron cast Saldaña in the role. Since she was cast early in production, Saldaña helped screen-test actors auditioning for the part of Jake Sully, including eventual co-star Worthington.[42] The character, like all the Na'vi, was created using performance capture, and its visual aspect is entirely computer generated.[43] Saldaña signed on for potential sequels.[44]
• Stephen Lang as Colonel Miles Quaritch, the head of the mining operation's security detail. Fiercely consistent in his disregard for any life not recognized as human, he has a profound disregard for Pandora's inhabitants that is evident in both his actions and his language. Lang had unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in Cameron's Aliens (1986), but the director remembered Lang and sought him for Avatar.[45] Michael Biehn, who had worked with Cameron in Aliens, The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, was briefly considered for the role. He read the script and watched some of the 3-D footage with Cameron[46] but was ultimately not cast.
• Michelle Rodriguez as Captain Trudy Chacón, a Marine pilot assigned to support the Avatar Program who is sympathetic to the Na'vi. Cameron had wanted to work with Rodriguez since seeing her in Girlfight.[45]
• Giovanni Ribisi as Parker Selfridge, the corporate administrator for the RDA mining operation.[47][48][49] While he is at first willing to destroy the Na'vi civilization to preserve the company's bottom line, he is reluctant to authorize the attacks on the Na'vi and taint his image, doing so only after Quaritch persuades him that it is necessary and that the attacks will be humane. When the attacks are broadcast to the base, Selfridge displays discomfort at the violence.
• Joel David Moore as Dr. Norm Spellman, a xenoanthropologist[50] who studies plant and animal life as part of the Avatar Program.[51] He arrives on Pandora at the same time as Jake and operates an avatar. Although he is expected to lead the diplomatic contact with the Na'vi, it turns out that Jake has the personality better suited to win the natives' respect.
  • Moore also portrays Norm's Na'vi avatar.
• CCH Pounder as Mo'at, the Omaticaya's spiritual leader, Neytiri's mother, and consort to clan leader Eytukan.[52]
• Wes Studi as Eytukan te Tskaha Kamun'itan, the Omaticaya's clan leader, Neytiri's father, and Mo'at's mate.
• Laz Alonso as Tsu'tey te Rongola Atey'itan, the finest warrior of the Omaticaya. He is heir to the chieftainship of the tribe. At the beginning of the film's story, he is betrothed to Neytiri.
• Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Grace Augustine, an exobiologist and head of the Avatar Program. She is also Jake's mentor and an advocate of peaceful relations with the Na'vi, having set up a school to teach them English.[53]
  • Weaver also portrays Grace's Na'vi avatar.
• Dileep Rao as Dr. Max Patel, a scientist who works in the Avatar Program and comes to support Jake's rebellion against the RDA[54]
• Matt Gerald as Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, a human mercenary who works for the RDA as Quaritch's right-hand man.

Additionally, Alicia Vela-Bailey appears, uncredited, as Ikeyni, the leader of the Tayrangi clan, Saeyla, one of the young Na'vi hunters who accompany Jake during his Iknimaya and a harassed blonde woman in a bar that Jake defends. Vela-Bailey served as the stunt double for Zoe Saldana and would later portray Zdinarsk in Avatar: The Way of Water. Terry Notary, who performed stunts as well, plays the Banshees via motion capture.