Zoe Saldana Says She Set A Crazy Record On The Avatar 2 Set

Zoe Saldana reveals that while making Avatar: The Way of Water, she could hold her breath longer than anyone else.

By Douglas Helm | Published

There’s no doubt that Zoe Saldana is an incredibly talented actor but apparently, she gained another huge talent on the set of Avatar 2 — holding her breath. Screen Rant recently reported on an interview with the cast of the film where Saldana revealed she held her breath underwater for an astounding five minutes. James Cameron also revealed in the interview that “Sig did six and a half.”

Of course, Cameron was referring to Sigourney Weaver, who apparently managed to outdo Zoe Saldana’s personal underwater record by holding her breath for six and a half minutes. As impressive as that is, Sigourney Weaver still came in second place to Kate Winslet, who was the breath-holding champ on the Avatar 2 set with a mind-blowing seven minutes. Winslet and Weaver’s time underwater both managed to surpass the record for holding your breath in a movie that was set by Tom Cruise while filming Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation.

While Zoe Saldana wasn’t able to beat the breath-holding records of Tom Cruise and her co-stars this time around, perhaps she’ll get another chance while filming the multiple Avatar sequels that are planned after Avatar: The Way of Water. Avatar: The Way of Water is the follow-up to James Cameron’s 2009 smash hit Avatar and will follow Saldana’s Neytiri and Sam Worthington’s Jake Sully as they raise their family on Pandora and seek to protect them from a familiar threat.

James Cameron once again returns as director and writer on Avatar: The Way of Water. The full cast for the sequel includes Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Michelle Yeoh, Sigourney Weaver, Kate Winslet, Stephen Lang, Jamie Flatters, Jemaine Clement, Bailey Bass, Oona Chaplin, Edie Falco, Giovanni Ribisi, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Chloe Coleman, Jack Champion, and Matt Gerald. Avatar: The Way of Water is set to hit theaters on December 16.

Zoe Saldana most recently starred in the Netflix mini-series From Scratch, which presumably required far less underwater filming. The series follows an American woman who falls in love with an Italian man while studying abroad. If you want to check out Saldana’s most recent performance, the series is now available to stream on Netflix.

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Zoe Saldana as Gamora in promotional art.

Meanwhile, fans are definitely looking forward to seeing Zoe Saldana return to another major franchise role as Gamora in the MCU. Marvel recently released The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special trailer, which shows most of the Guardians along with Mantis and Drax teaming up to kidnap Kevin Bacon. While Gamora is nowhere to be seen in the trailer, you have to imagine that James Gunn would find a way for every Guardian to get some holiday screen time before Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hits theaters on May 5, 2023.

If you want to check out The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special and see if Zoe Saldana makes an appearance, you can stream it on Disney+ on November 25. After that, we can definitely expect to see her in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to wrap up the story of the current Guardians of the Galaxy lineup. Saldana is also set to appear in Avatar 3, which currently has a December 20, 2024 release date.