Zoe Saldaña has admitted that the "hardest part" of making the Avatar franchise is the large gap between production and the film's release.
The Oscar-winning actress, who plays a blue-skinned Na'vi named Neytiri in the franchise, filmed the upcoming movie, Avatar: Fire and Ash, at the same time as 2022's Avatar: The Way of Water between 2017 and 2018.
During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Saldaña admitted that it's been hard waiting around seven or eight years for audiences to see what they've been working on.
"I think that the hardest part, and many fans can relate with this, (is) I hate having to wait so many years for the stories to come out because I really do personally enjoy them," she shared. "But I understand being behind the scenes, being backstage with the crew that's led by (director) James Cameron, just something so special takes time.
"So I get to feel very honoured that I am a part of something that stands the test of time. And in a way, because we don't have control of how much time it takes to make, it makes it even more precious. There's something really special about it that is very humbling."
The Emilia Perez star, who plays Neytiri via performance capture technology, added that she hopes the new two-part documentary, Fire and Water: Making the Avatar Films, will make fans appreciate why each film takes so long to make.
"I'm really happy that that time has come where we get to really lift the veil, lift the curtains, and invite everybody backstage to the world of Pandora and what it takes to come together," she said.
"It takes a lot of preparation, it takes a lot of hard work, a lot of physical strain to do that. So I'm most looking forward to the whole world understanding that we're not just lending parts of us, we're really pouring everything that's in us into what we're doing in Avatar."
The documentary is now streaming on Disney+. Avatar: Fire and Ash will be released in cinemas on 19 December.
