Actress Q’orianka Kilcher has filed a lawsuit against director James Cameron, claiming he used her likeness to build the Avatar franchise without giving her any compensation or credit. The lawsuit claims that Cameron used her biometric identity to create the character Neytiri, who is played by Zoe Saldana in the films.
According to The Independent, the case centers on a photograph of Kilcher from her role as Pocahontas in the 2005 film The New World. According to the lawsuit, Cameron allegedly saw a photo of the then 14-year-old actress in the LA Times and used it as the basis for sketches and designs that eventually became the look for the Na’vi character. Kilcher says she had no idea she had inspired the character until she ran into Cameron at an event in 2010.
