Which actress played Dr. Grace Augustine in James Cameron’s Avatar?

Sigourney Weaver played Dr. Grace Augustine in James Cameron’s Avatar.

Grace Augustine is a xenobotanist who leads the scientific team studying Pandora and its Na’vi inhabitants. She supports the avatar program and works to understand Pandora’s ecology, while also opposing the destructive approach taken by the Resources Development Administration’s security forces.

Weaver had already collaborated with Cameron in Aliens, where she played Ellen Ripley. Avatar reunited the actor and director in a very different kind of science-fiction role: Grace is a scientist and educator rather than a survivor confronting extraterrestrial predators. Weaver also portrayed Grace in motion-capture and related performance work for the film’s Na’vi sequences.

Avatar was released in 2009 and became a landmark in digitally created environments, stereoscopic 3D presentation, and performance-capture filmmaking. Zoe Saldana played Neytiri, Michelle Rodriguez played Trudy Chacón, and Giovanni Ribisi played Parker Selfridge, so those names are associated with the film but not with Grace Augustine.