Biehn Talks Possible Avatar Role
Michael Biehn confirmed that he has talked with director James Cameron about a role in the helmer's upcoming SF epic film Avatar, which would reunite him with his Aliens director and co-star Sigourney Weaver in a movie Biehn characterized as "Lawrence of Arabia in space."
"I've had two very very good meetings with Jim," Biehn said March 25 in an interview while promoting Grindhouse, in which he has a part. "And they went very well. He showed me a lot of stuff that he was doing. Showed me the presentation that he showed Fox. I thought they went very well. There have been a lot of other sources, like Harry Knowles at Ain't-It-Cool-News.com, that have reported they have sources saying that I'm doing it, but so far I haven't heard anything from Jim. He hasn't cast the role yet."
Cameron has already cast Weaver, Australian actor Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana in the movie, which Cameron wrote and has been developing for more than a decade. Avatar is the story of a wounded ex-marine who is unwillingly sent to settle and exploit a faraway planet. He gets caught up in a battle for survival by the planet's inhabitants.
Biehn has appeared in several of Cameron's films, including the original Terminator, Aliens and The Abyss. "I've had two meetings with him, but they were a while ago, and he hasn't cast the role, and he hasn't cast me in it," Biehn said.
Biehn added that if he wins the role, his Grindhouse director Robert Rodriguez deserves some of the credit. "He and Robert are friends," Biehn said. "If I did get cast in it, ... I would give a lot of credit to Robert, because Robert showed Jim a lot of my footage from this movie before I had those meetings with Jim. So, you know, I think that ... I'm not sure that Jim saw me in that role originally anyway, and I think I might have won him over in a couple of meetings."
Avatar, which will be shot in 3-D with advanced technology Cameron has developed, is eyeing a Memorial Day 2009 release. Patrick Lee, News Editor
