Zoe Saldaña said her character Neytiri goes darker than fans may expect in “Avatar: Fire & Ash.” 

“Neytiri is a full-blown racist,” she told BET Current, calling the character “so blinded by her fury that she’s losing sight” of the people she loves. “Avatar’s” latest installment pushes the franchise into thornier territory, tackling themes like grief, cultural survival, and hatred. 

Saldaña said she had to let Neytiri “allow herself to go there,” while still trying not to judge the character. “So much has been taken from her,” Saldaña said. That emotional bleed — grief morphing into suspicion and exclusion — is rooted in the franchise’s long-running themes about assimilation and belonging. 

Saldaña connects Neytiri’s rage to real history. “Coming from my African, Latino, and indigenous roots, I do know my history… but I don’t embrace the hate. We forgive, we never forget. And Neytiri has it all backwards,” she said. Her stunning performance leans into that contradiction, a fierce protection of community paired with the cost of letting anger harden her.

The release of “Avatar: Fire & Ash” renews the debates and critiques that the two preceding films explored: how the franchise borrows from indigenous cultures and whether its stories are told with enough accountability. Critics and indigenous activists have raised concerns about cultural appropriation and the “white savior” framing in past elements, even as this latest installment’s casting aimed for broader diversity. 

Saldaña noted the effort and said, “I think the diversity in our cast is incredible with Cliff [Curtis]  playing the Olo'eyktan of the Metkayina, with Oona [Chaplin] being a Latina woman, with Trinity [Bliss] being Asian.” She continued, “I do feel that there is diversity with CCH Pounder being my mom and Wes Studi also playing my father, who's a Native man. I do believe that Jim [James Cameron] really went by his word, and he cast a very diverse cast.” Saldaña also praised Cameron’s inclusion of Māori, Mapuche, and other indigenous influences onscreen, portrayed by the various tribes of the Na’vi.

Saldaña said this role demanded honesty and for her not to judge Neytiri’s racism. She hoped Neytiri’s journey through grief and into possible forgiveness resonates as messy and real. “Love is our weapon,” she said, and added that Neytiri’s capacity to forgive is what ultimately helps the Na’vi survive and evolve.