The actress Edie Falco played the role of Frances Ardmore in the film “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Since she filmed her scenes years before the release, she thought the film would be a flop because she heard nothing about it. However, the film was a box office hit.
Who is Edie Falco? She achieved her acting breakthrough with her role as Carmela Soprano in the HBO series “The Sopranos.” She became known to a wider audience as nurse Jackie in her own series Nurse Jackie.
In 2022, she landed a role in James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.” Here she played General Frances Ardmore.
Director James Cameron has shaped many great film franchises. Among them, the Alien films:
“I never know what’s going on in my life”
Edie Falco made headlines a year before the actual release of “Avatar: The Way of Water” when she announced that the film must have been a flop since she hadn’t heard anything about it.
Why did Edie Falco think the film was a flop? Edie Falco is an actress who takes on and finishes many projects in succession. In her usual working style, she says she films her scenes, says goodbye to everyone, and then is done with the job.
The scenes in which she appears as Frances Ardmore were filmed four years before the film was even released, in 2018. Shortly after filming, however, she did not hear from the film and drew her own conclusions.
What does director James Cameron say about it? Director James Cameron himself was not pleased with Edie Falco’s false claims. Edie Falco describes in an interview from the podcast “The Jess Cagle Show with Julia Cunningham” (via SiriusXM):
“I heard directly from the source who was with him: When he heard that I said it wasn’t going well… I got in a lot of trouble for that.”
She further justified her misconduct (via SiriusXM): “All I said is that I’m an idiot. I never know what’s going on in my life.” She said this also in the “many calls from many very important people.”
Furthermore, Edie Falco mentioned that it was never her intention to upset anyone or even suggest that the film would not do well.
How successful was the film actually? In reality, “Avatar: The Way of Water” was a crowd puller. With a revenue of $2.32 billion, the film ranks third among the highest-grossing films. Moreover, it is the highest-grossing film of 2022.
Edie Falco stepped into a minefield with this action, even though it was not intended. James Cameron was understandably not very pleased with the actress’s statements. In his film “Titanic,” he was also not satisfied with everything: James Cameron regrets a scene in Titanic after 20 years because it is said to have harmed the dignity of the survivors
