Oscars hopeful happy to be Kiwi
His accent may well still sit firmly over the Pacific and his onetime California home, but as special effects guru Joe Letteri gears up for tomorrow’s Oscars he’s happy to confirm he’s all Kiwi now.
In an interview with Stuff’s Virginia Fallon from his awards base at Los Angeles’ Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the man who’s up for his 12th career nomination, for Best Visual Effects on Avatar: The Way of Water, confirms which country can claim him as their own.
‘‘New Zealand can do that,’’ he tells Fallon. ‘‘I’m not going anywhere.’’
‘‘Twenty one years ago Peter [Jackson] tapped me to do The Two Towers and Return of the King. We came from San Francisco – what was meant to be for two years but we loved Wellington so much we just stayed.’’
After 10 years working at George Lucas’ Industrial Light and Magic, where he was a visual effects cosupervisor for the 1997 Star Wars Special Edition, Letteri became a partner at We¯ tā Digital in 2009 and is now the company’s director. But despite being a regular at Hollywood’s night of nights and already having Academy Awards for The Two Towers and The Return of the King, the 66-year-old admits to some pre-event jitters.
‘‘By the time you get to the night you’re nervous, but there’s nothing you can do about it – you just sink in and get surrounded by a lot of great people so you can enjoy the evening.’’
Letteri’s nomination comes off the back of being asked by Avatar director James Cameron to make The Way of Water bigger and better than the original blockbuster that smashed box office records 13 years ago.
And he tells Stuff that it’s taken 10 years to overhaul
We¯ tā ’s facial animation software and the studio to create a revolutionary new musclebased facial system to get more nuanced performances from actors.
As well as that, a new FX stimulation tool was used to meet Cameron’s demands for realistic depictions of water and fire, and We¯ tā ’s system was rebuilt to enable new levels of realism and interaction for hair, cloth, skin, and hard surfaces.
Letteri credits Cameron’s collaborative approach for making both the film and its creation so successful: ‘‘Jim’s always open to it if you can do it.’’
He’s hopeful about his chance in the looming awards but even just scoring a nomination for his work on Avatar is recognition enough.
‘‘It’s a validation, Avatar has been popular with audiences, but this means your peers appreciate your work too.’’
Once the ceremony is over, that that work will continue, he tells Stuff, this time on the next Avatar film, set for release in December 2024.
And he also confirmed what he’ll be doing after the Oscars.
‘‘I’ll be coming home after the awards. To Wellington.’’