Indigenous Actress Sues James Cameron and Disney Over Alleged Theft of Her Likeness for 'Avatar's' Neytiri Character

An Indigenous actress has filed a lawsuit against director James Cameron and The Walt Disney Co, accusing Cameron of stealing her likeness when she was a teenager to create the main character of Disney’s ‘Avatar’ franchise. The suit, filed on Tuesday by native Peruvian actress and activist Q’orianka Kilcher, alleges that Cameron extracted Kilcher’s facial features from a photo of her playing Pocahontas in the 2006 movie ‘The New World’ and directed his design team to use it as the foundation for the character of Neytiri, one of the franchise’s main characters.

At the time ‘The New World’ was filmed, Kilcher was just 14 years old. The lawsuit states:

"This case exposes how one of Hollywood’s most powerful filmmakers exploited a young Indigenous girl’s biometric identity and cultural heritage to create a record-breaking film franchise — without credit or compensation to her — through a series of deliberate, non-expressive commercial acts."

The suit further claims:

"The result was a hugely lucrative film franchise that presented itself as sympathetic to Indigenous struggles, all while silently exploiting a real Indigenous youth behind the scenes."

According to NBC, the lawsuit includes evidence such as Cameron’s initial sketches of Neytiri and interviews with Cameron and members of his production team, in which they explicitly name Kilcher as the character’s visual inspiration. The ‘Avatar’ franchise has grossed nearly $7 billion at the global box office.

Kilcher asserts she did not consent to her likeness being used in any way and had no knowledge that she was Cameron’s muse until after the first ‘Avatar’ movie — which remains the highest-grossing film of all time — was released. In 2010, Kilcher claims Cameron presented her with a framed sketch of Neytiri along with a note that read:

"Your beauty was my early inspiration for Neytiri. Too bad you were shooting another movie. Next time."

At the time of this exchange, Kilcher was around 18 years old, a year after ‘Avatar’ hit theaters. Despite the note, Kilcher alleges that Cameron’s team never actually engaged her for the role. The actress Zoe Saldaña has played Neytiri in the franchise.

Kilcher claims she only fully understood the extent of the alleged theft last year, when Cameron, in an interview while holding a Neytiri sketch, stated:

"This is actually her… lower face. She had a very interesting face."

According to the lawsuit, Cameron’s explanation referenced a photo in the LA Times featuring Kilcher as a young actress. The suit describes Cameron’s use of Kilcher’s face without her consent as ‘theft’ and the process of creating Neytiri as a ‘literal transplant of a real teenager’s facial structure into a blockbuster movie character.’ The lawsuit also accuses Cameron and Disney of violating newer deepfake laws.