No./13
Payakan-mania explained
The Avatar: The Way Of Water scene-stealer’s designers and fans on why this hyper-whale is winning hearts
Top to bottom: Surprise star tulkun Payakan gets close to Lo’ak (Britain Dalton); Having a floating good time together.
WHEN JAMES CAMER ON first briefed his design team on Payakan — the feisty ‘space whale’ who’s become Avatar: The Way Of Water’s surprise star — they immediately began thinking about how to unlock his relatability. “Mike Wazowski from Monsters, Inc. was a reference,” laughs production designer Dylan Cole. “It started as a joke, but it’s 100 per cent the same problem: how much can you express with just an eye?”