Jack Champion

Jack Champion (born November 16, 2004) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Spider, a human teenager living on Pandora, who first appeared in '' Avatar: The Way of Water'' (2022). He also played Ethan Landry in the slasher film '' Scream VI'' (2023).

Life and career

Champion was born in November 2004, and is a native of Blacksburg, Virginia. He was raised by his mother, a microbiologist. He has credited her for encouraging his interest in acting. He began acting at age eight, starting in school theatre and eventually began working in short films. In 2015, he had a small role in the documentary series ''American Genius''.

In 2017, Champion booked a screen test to join the cast of James Cameron's science fiction film '' Avatar: The Way of Water''. Before he was cast in the role, he filmed a small part in the superhero film '' Avengers: Endgame'' (2019). He also had a leading role in the horror film ''The Night Sitter'' (2018). Champion booked his part in ''Avatar'' at age 12, after four months of extensive auditions. He was cast as Spider, a human teenager living amongst Na'vis on Pandora. The nature of Champion's role meant that he had to film all his scenes twice; his work involved two years of performance capture on a soundstage, followed by two and a half years of filming the same scenes in live-action in New Zealand. To maintain a muscular physique over the duration of filming, as his character appears shirtless throughout the film, he exercised extensively with a personal trainer and consumed a high-protein diet. He also learned freediving and scuba diving for scenes that were filmed underwater. After five years of production, the film was released in 2022, after Champion turned 18. It earned over $2 billion worldwide, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time. Champion concurrently shot for the sequel, ''Avatar 3'', which will release in 2025, and portions of ''Avatar 4'', which will release in 2029. This was primarily done so that Champion would not age out of his role.

In 2023, Champion appeared alongside an ensemble cast in the slasher film '' Scream VI'', playing the part of Ethan Landry. In contrast to his experience of working on ''Avatar'', he described filming ''Scream VI'' as a "really fun summer vacation". He then played the son of star Liam Neeson's character in the action thriller '' Retribution'', a remake of the 2015 Spanish film of the same name. Champion will next appear alongside an ensemble cast in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's film '' Freaky Tales'' and in Jon S. Baird's family drama ''Everything's Going to Be Great''.

Filmography

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Champion, Jack
2004 births
21st-century American male actors
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
Living people
Male actors from Virginia
People from Blacksburg, Virginia