Joel David Moore talks about starring in ‘Avatar’ and the Oscars

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By Kristi Turnquist



It’s enough of a switch to go from growing up on Mount Tabor to being an actor in Hollywood. But playing one of the lead roles in the highest-grossing movie of all time?

“That changes everything,” says Joel David Moore.

Joel David Moore, center rear, watches as James Cameron explains a shot to "Avatar" castmates Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington.

No kidding. Moore, 32, made audiences laugh as one of the geeky athletes in “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.” He’s played a recurring role as a brainy grad student on the TV series, “Bones.” But Moore’s role in “Avatar” has made him part of movie history. His character, scientist Norm Spellman, is part of the team that journeys to Pandora, in the thick of the 3-D action. Not only does Moore get his own avatar in the movie, there’s even a Norm Spellman action figure.

“We knew we were making a great movie,” says Moore, calling from his home base in the Los Angeles area. “But you don’t know how people are going to receive it. You’re always left to public opinion.”

No worries on that score. James Cameron’s trailblazing 3-D science fiction adventure has made $2,548,304,322  worldwide, according to mid-week stats from Box Office Mojo. It’s been nominated for and won awards over the past two months, culminating in Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony, where “Avatar” is up for nine Oscars, including best picture.

We caught up with Portland native Moore prior to the big event to see what life is like after “Avatar.” Comments have been edited for brevity and clarity.

Q: How did you get the role in ‘Avatar’?:

A: At the end of 2005, I went on an audition for something called ‘Project 880.’ They said that James Cameron was directing it. I had no idea what the movie was about, or anything. They said, ‘Do you speak any other languages?’ They wanted me to do the lines, the entire thing, but to do it in gibberish, just make words up. They said, ‘We want to see how your body communicates things without understanding what you’re saying.’ I went out of there thinking, there’s no way I’m getting that role. I just made a fool of myself, speaking in tongues. A month later, I get a call – ‘James Cameron wants to sit down with you.’

Q: ‘Project 880′ became ‘Avatar,’ which Cameron had spent years developing. What was the filming experience like?

A: We did a bunch of preliminary work before we started shooting. We went over to Hawaii to rehearse, and tramp around in the jungle. The closest thing to Pandora, (Cameron) felt, were the tropical jungles.

We shot in L.A., and then we went to New Zealand and shot for six months, and came back to L.A. We did motion-capture filming, where we wore what look like wetsuits, with helmets and all these dot balls all over that the infrared cameras pick up. The nice thing about motion-capture is audiences are seeing me as the avatar. Every crease of the eye, every movement of the mouth, the way gravity affects me rather than how it affect Sam Worthington’s character or Sigourney’s (Weaver) character.

Q: The special effects made Pandora come to life. When you were acting on set, was it difficult, not knowing what Pandora would look like?

A: The amazing part about working with someone that is such an absolute genius – (Cameron) is arguably the smartest man I’ve ever met – is you do know what everything’s gonna look like. He had already built the entire planet in a computer. In sketches, he showed us every animal that we interacted with, so we knew exactly what they looked like.

Q: What are your plans for the Oscar ceremony?

A: We’re all gonna be there or in one of the viewing parties. It’s going to be a lot like the Golden Globes, a lot of selfishly waiting around for them to call your number. I’d be very happy for Jim if he won. But there are so many people involved in making this kind of movie, our editor, our director of photography, they’re all nominated.

Q: What are you working on next?

A: I’m doing a pilot for a TV series called ‘Nathan vs. Nurture,’ which James Burrows is directing and producing. He’s arguably the biggest comedy TV director in town. Jay Harrington, from ‘Better Off Ted,’ is in it, and Bill Pullman plays my father. We’ll see what happens.

Q: Are you going to be in the ‘Avatar’ sequel? What can you tell us about that?

A: I can tell you that nobody knows anything. There’s one man that is making all those decisions, and if and when he calls my name, I’ll be there.

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