In “Avatar: The Way of the Water,” Kate Winslet broke Tom Cruise’s previous record by holding her breath underwater for more than seven minutes. Cruise set a record for “Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” of six minutes.
As James Cameron’s “Avatar” sequel opened in theaters on Friday, Winslet shared details with USA Today. Sam Worthington, Michelle Yeoh, Sigourney Weaver, Vin Diesel, and others co-star with Winslet in “Avatar: The Way of the Water.”
“Poor Tom,” the actress told USA Today. “I mean, I don’t know Tom at all – I’ve never met him in my life – but I’m sure he’s getting very fed up of hearing this story of how I broke his record. I loved it, though. … I was amazed how good I was at it and how I just kept getting better.”
In the same interview, Weaver – who appeared in both “Avatar” films – added that she held her breath for six minutes and 30 seconds.
“We were delighted for Kate that she did that,” Weaver said. “My husband (theater director Jim Simpson) and I both did 6 ½ minutes, which was astonishing to us and our teacher, Kirk Krack, who teaches the Navy SEALs. Everyone had a personal best.”
Weaver also revealed earlier in 2020, that the “Avatar” cast trained with elite military divers to maximize the amount of time they could hold their breath underwater. Cast members wore weights around their waists during filming to keep them submerged underwater. Cameron filmed a majority of “Avatar 2” in giant water takes, and the longer the cast could hold their breath without returning to the surface for oxygen meant fewer interruptions in filming.
The director, James Cameron told ComicBook.com that the special effects in “Avatar 2” were better than Marvel films.
“Industrial Light & Magic does great work, but when it comes to the kind of emotive facial stuff that we’re doing… Thanos? Come on. Give me a break. You saw this movie. It’s not even close. It’s what Weta did,” he told the outlet.
“Avatar: The Way of the Water” hit theaters on Friday.
Miracle Edee 