Avatar: Why One Awkward Love Scene Made Zoe Saldana Blush

Usually, the most awkward love scenes in movies have something to do with the theme of the film, and generally, said love scene leaves audiences cringing. Sometimes, though, the awkwardness stems from the actual shooting of the scene itself, as the two romantic subjects on screen are surrounded by several crew members, which throws every sense of intimacy out the window.

Given the technical complexity of writer-director James Cameron's 2009 blockbuster "Avatar," the love scene between Na'vi native Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña) and human-turned-Na'vi avatar Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) presented even more strange challenges for the actors.

"We were doing performance capture for the computers, so Sam and I had on these helmets with a boom and a camera at the end of it and we would get tangled up before our lips could touch," Saldaña recalled for Parade in 2009. "Jim [Cameron] would yell, 'Cut. The actors are stuck again. Can't you guys be more careful?' We were like, 'Damn it. It's not that easy.'"

Ultimately, Saldaña noted for the publication that filming the love scene with Worthington had its silly moments. "Sometimes we'd just start laughing. The entire time we were all blushing. It was just like, 'Okay, this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever done,'" she said.

In "Avatar," Sam Worthington's paralyzed veteran, Jake Sully, is recruited by Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang) to participate in the Avatar program — where his consciousness is transferred into the genetically-produced body of a Na'vi, a race of 10-feet tall, blue-skinned residents of Pandora. Jake's directive from Quaritch is to infiltrate the Na'vi tribe to aid the military's goal of harvesting the highly valuable mineral Unobtanium, but instead, he falls in love with Neytiri.

Discussing the film with Parade, Zoe Saldaña credited James Cameron with creating a character with such allure: "I thought Jim did a really good job of putting Neytiri together. I thanked him for making her look hot. I mean, Neytiri is very sexy and lean with a really cut bod. I'm in pretty good shape, but I don't look that buff." 

In addition, Saldaña — who recalled her first "Avatar" meeting with Cameron was a literal out-of-body experience — loved how the director approached the film with no gender stereotypes. "I find Jim Cameron's characters to be rather androgynous," the actor told Parade. "With minor tweaks, each and every one of his female characters and male characters could be swapped. That's a testament to the kind of observer of life that he is. He's not a 'men are from Mars and women are from Venus' kind of guy. He's sensitive to the qualities that we all share."

Saldaña and Worthington wore motion capture outfits once again to film the blockbuster sequel, "Avatar: The Way of Water" in 2022, with "Avatar 3" set for a December 19, 2025, release.