<\/p>\nThe new adventure finds them meeting \u2013 and coming into conflict with \u2013 the Ash People, a clan led by the zealous Varang who are forever changed by tragedy and trauma. And her teaming with bad guy Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) creates more problems for the returning heroes.<\/p>\n
USA TODAY has an exclusive sneak peek at the new \u201cAvatar\u201d character, portrayed by Chaplin via performance capture technology. Here\u2019s what you need to know about Varang, Chaplin and her iconic family legacy:<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nThe new villain in \u2018Avatar: Fire and Ash\u2019 has a tragic backstory<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nChaplin, 39, a veteran of TV shows like \u201cGame of Thrones,\u201d \u201cTaboo\u201d and \u201cBlack Mirror,\u201d acknowledges that Varang is unlike any other character she\u2019s played. \u201cI\u2019ve been a good person for most of my career,\u201d she says with a laugh. Varang \u201cis very fierce.\u201d<\/p>\n\nAnd the Ash clan is also different from the other Na\u2019vi that \u201cAvatar\u201d fans have met because they have an antagonistic relationship with the deity Eywa. Varang and her people lived near a volcano until it erupted and everything was destroyed. \u201cWhen they really needed Eywa, Eywa wasn’t there and didn’t show up for them,\u201d Chaplin says. \u201cSo you can imagine the depth of despair and the grief and the pain.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\nIn the aftermath, Varang harnessed the power of the thing that devastated them \u2013 fire \u2013 and became its devotee. She then galvanized the Ash clan and turned their trauma into their greatest strength.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen they go into battle, it’s just like nothing you’ve ever seen. It’s like a wildfire. They’re unstoppable,” says Chaplin, whose Varang combines smarts with power. \u201cShe’s spicy, man. I really like her. I wouldn’t go about things in the same way, but I have a lot of compassion for her because she does what she has to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oona Chaplin channels Idris Elba, taps into imagination to play Varang in ‘Avatar’<\/h2>\n
Chaplin got into Varang\u2019s aggressive headspace by listening to a lot of voice-and-drum powwow music, rehearsing with her blade weapons and watching Idris Elba\u2019s ruthless warlord in \u201cBeasts of No Nation.\u201d But a lot of it came just working in performance capture, which she calls \u201cone of the most liberating experiences of acting that I’ve ever had.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\nThe actress likens it to being at a playground as a kid: \u201cYou can go as big or as small as you want, as long as it’s truthful,\u201d Chaplin says. “But she’s such a far cry from me. To work myself up into such a tizzy that I had the courage to become the force that she is, it was a real experiment in imagination.”<\/p>\n\nThere’s a saying that “you can’t play the king; that people around you have to play that you are the king,\u201d she adds. \u201cA lot of the magnificence is everybody else playing along with the fact that I had that kind of sway.\u201d<\/p>\n
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New \u2018Avatar\u2019 star is Charlie Chaplin\u2019s granddaughter<\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nBorn in Madrid, Oona Chaplin is the daughter of three-time Golden Globe nominee Geraldine Chaplin, who starred in classics such as \u201cDoctor Zhivago\u201d and \u201cNashville.\u201d (She\u2019s named after her grandmother Oona O\u2019Neill, daughter of playwright Eugene O\u2019Neill.)<\/p>\n\nHer grandfather, Charlie, is a very, very powerful light that shines brightly still for all of us,\u201d Oona Chaplin says. But while she got into the business early, \u201cI\u2019ve been quitting acting pretty much since I started,\u201d she adds with a laugh. That family legacy is something Chaplin had to come to terms with: \u201cI made a switch at one point in my late 20s from guilt to gratitude, from like, \u2018Oh, God, I don’t deserve to be here\u2019 to \u2018OK, I’m here. How can I be here in a good way?\u2019 Try and honor him by showing up in the best way that I can and doing my best.\u201d<\/p>\n
She\u2019s found that being a storyteller is just in her nature. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible to tell a story that touches so many people,\u201d Chaplin says of popular franchises like “Avatar” and “Game of Thrones.” “People are moved by these stories because they elevate us and they inspire us to be ourselves \u2013 imperfect and in all of the ways. And nobody has ever done that better than Chaplin himself.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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