If the latest box office projections prove true, Avatar: The Way of Water will be a massive success for director James Cameron. A return to Pandora has long been anticipated by fans of the original film, which was released in 2009. The sequel welcomes back Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, and Sigourney Weaver and reunites Cameron with Titanic star Kate Winslet. In an interview with People, Winslet shared that her children, Bear, Joe, and Mia, demanded she participate in the film. The actress said:

Winslet said that her children are not particularly interested in her career, but there is another exception besides Avatar: The Way of Water. The Academy Award-winning actress was surprised to learn that her older children (Joe, 19, and Mia, 22) are fans of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The 2004 critically acclaimed film told the unconventional love story between Clementine (Winslet) and Joel (Jim Carrey). The film earned Winslet an Academy Award nomination.

“I was just super happy to jump [into the world of Avatar] and very excited to be asked. He [Cameron] called me and described the role and I thought, ‘My God, that sounds amazing.’ And my kids were like, ‘Oh my God, Mom, you have to do it.’ I was like, ‘Obviously.’ I said, ‘Well, they’re going to send the script.’ They were like, ‘No, it doesn’t matter. Just you have to do it!’”

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“Mia and Joe love Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Love [it], and love the soundtrack. So regularly, I’ll hear from someone’s bedroom, Beck blasting. I’ll be like, ‘That’s Eternal Sunshine.’ So that’s kind of amazing. And that generation, there are specific lines of dialogue that they latch onto. My kids and their friends will quote back to me. They’ll be like, ‘Do you know who said that?’ And I’ll say, ‘No. Who said that?’ And they’ll be, ‘You did, Mom, as Clementine in Eternal Sunshine!’ I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that amazing line.’ So they are kind of clinging onto these things that’s really fun and certainly unexpected.”

From Heavenly Creatures to Pandora and Beyond

     Warner Bros.

Winslet’s illustrious career has spanned over two decades and has earned the actress many accolades. In 2008, she received the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Hanna Schmitz in The Reader. In addition, Winslet received an Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, and Golden Globe Award for her work on HBO’s 2021 crime drama series Mare of Easttown.

Winslet made her film debut with Heavenly Creatures in 1994, when she portrayed a teenage criminal. The following year, she starred in a film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, which earned her a BAFTA Award. In 1997, she rose to global stardom after starring in Cameron’s Titanic opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. Up next, Winslet will star as the titular character in Lee. Elizabeth “Lee” Miller was a photographer who became a known war correspondent for Vogue during World War II.