Everything to Know About Sigourney Weaver’s Teenage “Avatar: The Way of Water” Character, Kiri

Sigourney Weaver played the heroic Dr. Grace Augustine in 2009’s “Avatar.” Her character dies in the first movie – but Weaver returns for the “Avatar: The Way of Water” sequel, albeit in a slightly different form. Weaver now plays Jake Sully’s adopted adolescent daughter, Kiri, a sensitive and perceptive youth. Judging by the second film, it looks like the franchise is setting her up to be a major part, if not the center, of the Avatar story.

Kiri is the biological daughter of Grace’s Avatar body, meaning she looks like a Na’vi for the most part, except she has five fingers and eyebrows like other Avatars and their descendants, which include Sully and his three kids with Neytiri. Her father is unknown, and it’s unclear how she was conceived. “It’s a natural birth, but the avatar is brain-dead, but she’s not. She’s normal,” Cameron said in a November interview with Entertainment Weekly.

Kiri seems to share a special bond with Sully and Neytiri’s other adopted child, Spider, who is the human son of Colonel Miles Quaritch. She also appears to share an unusually intense connection with the natural world, easily bonding with creatures that other Na’vi have to work to tame and sensing things about the land around her that others don’t. Additionally, Kiki may have a spiritual connection with Eywa, the deity that protects Pandora and the Na’vi, and appears able to communicate with and even control nature at times, though it seems like she’s at the mercy of forces far beyond her control thanks to her mysterious gift. All this indicates that she likely has an important role to play in the fight for Pandora’s survival against the colonizing, nature-destroying human forces.

For Weaver, playing teenage Kiri was a welcome challenge. “We started to talk about this forest girl – a girl who felt more at home in the forest with the plants and animals than with people. Maybe she would be different, maybe she would be able to blend in with the forest. In any case, I was immediately entranced,” Weaver told D23 in 2022. She also recalled her first conversations with James Cameron about the role in 2010. “I was excited because it was like nothing I’ve ever done before. And I was thrilled that Jim would entrust me with such a character. I felt an immediate connection to her. I knew it would be probably the biggest challenge I’ve ever taken on, but I thought, with his help, with his amazing writing, with our wonderful cast, I would definitely give it my best shot.”

“Avatar: The Way of Water” is now playing in theaters. Ahead, check out more photos of Kiri and Weaver.