Jack Champion

Last updated

Jack Champion
BornNovember 2004 (age 19) [1]
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActor
Years active2015–present

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). [2] He also played Ethan Landry in the slasher film Scream VI (2023).

Contents

Life and career

Champion was born in November 2004 and is a native of Blacksburg, Virginia. [1] [3] He was raised by his mother, a microbiologist. [1] He has credited her for encouraging his interest in acting. [4] He began acting at age eight, starting in school theatre and eventually began working in short films. [1] [4] In 2015, he had a small role in the documentary series American Genius . [5]

In 2017, Champion booked a screen test to join the cast of James Cameron's science fiction film Avatar: The Way of Water . [6] Before he was cast in the role, he filmed a small part in the superhero film Avengers: Endgame (2019). [6] He also had a leading role in the horror film The Night Sitter (2018). [7] Champion booked his part in Avatar at age 12, after four months of extensive auditions. [3] He was cast as Spider, a human teenager living amongst Na'vis on Pandora. [8] [9] [10] The nature of Champion's role meant that he had to film all his scenes twice; [11] 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. [6] 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. [12] After five years of production, the film was released in 2022, after Champion turned 18. [3] It earned over $2 billion worldwide, becoming the third highest-grossing film of all time. [13] 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. [14] [15] [16]

In 2023, Champion appeared alongside an ensemble cast in the slasher film Scream VI , playing the part of Ethan Landry. [17] In contrast to his experience of working on Avatar, he described filming Scream VI as a "really fun summer vacation". [4] 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. [18] Champion next appeared alongside an ensemble cast in Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck's 1980s-set action drama film Freaky Tales , which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. [19]

Champion will next star in Jon S. Baird's family drama Everything's Going to Be Great . [20]

Filmography

Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
YearTitleRoleNotes
2015 The Divergent Series: Insurgent Abnegation ChildUncredited
2015, 2016 Legends & Lies Jesse James Jr. / Group of boys2 episodes
2015 American Genius Kid BlinkEpisode: "Hearst vs. Pulitzer"
Under the Dome Aiden TildenEpisode: "Redux"
2018 The Night Sitter Kevin
2019 Avengers: Endgame Kid on Bike
2022 Avatar: The Way of Water Miles "Spider" Socorro
2023 Scream VI Ethan Landry
Retribution Zach Turner
2024 Freaky Tales Lucid
2025 Avatar 3 Miles "Spider" SocorroPost-production
2029 Avatar 4 Miles "Spider" SocorroFilming
TBA Everything's Going to Be Great TBAPost-production [20]
TBA Trap House TBAFilming
Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released

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References

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