James Cameron (72), the mastermind behind the ‘Avatar’ series, has been hit with a lawsuit for allegedly violating deepfake laws. The claim is that he used the likeness of an indigenous actress without her permission for the sketches of the female lead, Neytiri.
According to a report by Variety on the 6th (local time) based on a complaint filed in the Central District Court of California, the plaintiff is Peruvian indigenous actress Corianka Kilcher (36). She claims that after she played Pocahontas in the movie ‘The New World’ at age 14, Director Cameron extracted her facial features from public photos and instructed the ‘Avatar’ design team to use them as the foundation for the character Neytiri.
To support her claims, Kilcher points to a private meeting after the 2009 release of ‘Avatar’ and an interview given by Cameron following the release of the third installment, ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’, last year. She claims she received a handwritten note from Cameron in 2009 stating, “Your beauty provided early inspiration for the Neytiri character.” Furthermore, she asserts that she became aware her likeness was used after Cameron mentioned in a recent interview, “The source of the Neytiri sketch started from a photo of actress Kilcher’s lower face. It was a very interesting face.”
