Avatar: Fire and Ash star Oona Chaplin on how incendiary Varang brings the heat: 'She becomes the...

The newcomer to the cast explains the character's backstory with the Ash People and the physicality she brought to the role. Avatar: Fire and Ash star Oona Chaplin on how incendiary Varang brings the heat: 'She becomes the fire' (exclusive) The newcomer to the cast explains the character's backstory with the Ash People and the physicality she brought to the role. By Nick Romano :maxbytes(150000):stripicc()/NicholasRomanoauthorphotoadc9b60763e34711935cbf7b3d768d24.jpg) Nick Romano is a senior editor at with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment.

The newcomer to the cast explains the character's backstory with the Ash People and the physicality she brought to the role.

Avatar: Fire and Ash star Oona Chaplin on how incendiary Varang brings the heat: 'She becomes the fire' (exclusive)

The newcomer to the cast explains the character's backstory with the Ash People and the physicality she brought to the role.

By Nick Romano

Nick Romano is a senior editor at ** with 15 years of journalism experience covering entertainment. His work previously appeared in *Vanity Fair*, Vulture, IGN, and more.

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November 17, 2025 10:00 a.m. ET

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Oona Chaplin as Varang in 'Avatar: Fire and Ash'. Credit:

20th Century Studios

- Oona Chaplin previews Varang, the new villain and leader of the volcanic Ash People in *Avatar: Fire and Ash*.

- The actress, joining the likes of Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldaña, describes the natural disaster that destroyed Varang's world.

- "She becomes the fire. Nothing can stop her," Chaplin says.

Oona Chaplin doesn't spend much time on social media these days, but the *Game of Thrones* alum is well aware of the online fan reaction to seeing Talisa Stark herself in the world of James Cameron's *Avatar*, thanks to texts from her mother-in-law.

"I've seen a bit. It's pretty cool," Chaplin, who's also the granddaughter of legendary actor Charlie Chaplin, tells **. "That show made an impact on people's lives. It made an impact on *my* life. I'm really proud of it. So whenever people mention that, it's the best."

She's now ready to debut in a different genre franchise that made its own cultural impact.

In *Avatar: Fire and Ash*, the third movie in Cameron's planned pentalogy, the Madrid-born actress, also known for her roles in the Bond film *Quantum of Solace* and the romance *The Longest Ride*, plays Varang. Chaplin has an easy trick for remembering how to pronounce the name of this new incendiary adversary for the Sully clan: "If this is Varang, I don't want to be Va-right."

The figure isn't quite as playful as Chaplin. Varang leads the Ash People, a clan of volcano-dwelling Na'vi who endured a devastating natural disaster that destroyed their entire biome. Even her Hometree, a sacred connection to the Pandoran deity Eywa, was devoured by fire, prompting them to embrace flame as their new religion.

Oona Chaplin as Varang in 'Avatar: Fire and Ash'.

20th Century Studios

"A lot of people died horribly, and then people were starving and there was nothing," Chaplin explains. "It killed all of life in her zone. Her whole world was destroyed. Instead of becoming defeated by it, she went towards the fire. She went towards the thing that had destroyed everything that she loved, and she became a devotee of this power, this force of fire."

The Na'vi clans introduced in previous films, the forest-dwelling Omatikaya and the ocean-dwelling Metkayina, typically have both female and male leadership, one to represent the spiritual side and one to represent the warrior. Varang is the sole chieftain of the Ash People as both the tsahìk and general. She conquered that which destroyed their biome, and her people now gaze upon her in awe.

Michelle Yeoh won't appear until 'Avatar 4,' James Cameron confirms (exclusive)

First 'Avatar: Fire and Ash' footage shows off Na'vi Wind Traders and Ash People at CinemaCon

In many ways, Varang is also the very manifestation of the movie's title. Cameron previously described the fire of *Avatar: Fire and Ash* as being "hatred, anger, violence," and the other as being "the aftermath" of it all. According to Chaplin, Varang tapped into the communal pain and grief of people to galvanize her clan.

"She's very smart because the power of pain and the power of trauma and the power of grief is almost infinite," the actress says. "It makes her and her people extremely fierce and powerful warriors. She becomes the fire. Nothing can stop her. It's an example of what can happen when we don't heal, what can happen when the things that have hurt us still rule over us."

Oona Chaplin as Varang in 'Avatar: Fire and Ash'.

20th Century Studios

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Chaplin leaned into that lethality through her physicality. Most Na'vi move from their heart; their chest is the first to veer in the direction they want to go, and the rest of their body follows as a sign of trust and openness. For Varang, costume designer Deborah L. Scott developed a tight band to wrap around Chaplin's chest, closing off her heart from the world.

Chaplin describes Varang as more serpentine in nature. Initially, she moved from her eyes and head like a reptile. When the character's weapons, a pair of dueling blades called buugeng, came into play, "It was much more interesting if we dropped it into the pelvis," she says. "So her center is really rooted in the pelvis, which is more associated with the magma and the fire and the passion. It became a really key way into her psychology."

And for what it's worth, the fire within Varang can be both literal and proverbial. "I don't wanna toot my own horn," Chaplin adds, "but she's the first sexual Na'vi, in my experience. She has a sexual energy that the other ones don't really have."

The saying apparently is the same on Pandora: If you can't stand the heat...

*Avatar: Fire and Ash* will premiere in theaters Dec. 19.**

Original Article on Source

Source: "EW Movies"

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Source: Movies

Published: November 17, 2025 at 10:38PM on Source: RED MAG

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