Published: 10:25 AM, 10 May 2026
Actress sues Avatar director for 'theft' of facial features for character
Film-maker James Cameron and Disney are being sued by an actress who has accused the director of using her likeness as the basis for one of the lead characters in his hit film series Avatar.
German-born US actress Q'orianka Kilcher, who is of indigenous Peruvian descent, alleged that in 2005 - when she was 14 - Cameron "extracted her facial features" from a photograph of her portraying Pocahontas in another film, The New World.
In court documents filed on Tuesday in California, her team claimed Cameron "directed his design team to use it as the foundation for the character of Neytiri", depicted on screen by Zoe Saldaña. BBC News has contacted Cameron and Disney for a comment. The Avatar movies contain a hybrid of live-action performance mixed with computer-generated characters.
The 2009 original remains the highest-grossing film of all time with global box office takings of almost $3bn (£2.2bn).
Now, actress and activist Kilcher, 36, has claimed Cameron "extracted, replicated, and commercially deployed her facial likeness" for Neytiri's design, accusing him and Disney of violating her publicity rights. She is seeking compensation, damages and a share of profits.
"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 legal claim said.
The image taken from her face went on to appear in the films and on posters and merchandise without her knowledge or consent, it added.
Avatar is set in the 22nd Century on the moon Pandora, and follows humans using genetically engineered Na'vi bodies (avatars) to explore the planet. It centres around Jake Sully's journey as he falls in love with local Na'vi native Neytiri, and defends her home from human mining.
