James Cameron filmed to avoid the "Stranger Things effect" with the young Avatar actors
You know when your teen actors age out of the teen playing range? That's what James Cameron doesn't want with Avatars 3 and 4
James Cameron is never going to pass on the opportunity to take a jab at another major franchise, and Stranger Things’ ticket has just been called. The blockbuster director says one of the major motivations behind the back-to-back filming of Avatar 2-4 was to avoid the “Stranger Things effect,” or when your young actors look too old to play children due to the natural aging process.
“Otherwise, you get—and I love Stranger Things—but you get the Stranger Things effect, where they’re supposed to still be in high school [but] they look like they’re 27,” Cameron tells Entertainment Weekly. “You know, I love the show. It’s okay, we’ll suspend disbelief. We like the characters. But, you know.”
His main concern was for Jack Champion—who plays the Spider—who over the course of shooting was “growing like a weed.” Champion snagged the role when he was 12, and wrapped filming the Avatar sequels four years later at 16.
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