Director James Cameron and The Walt Disney Company are facing a lawsuit for allegedly using the likeness of Indigenous actress Q’orianka Kilcher without her knowledge or consent. Kilcher, who was 14 years old and had recently portrayed Pocahontas in "The New World," claims that Cameron extracted her facial features from a published photograph and instructed his design team to use it as the basis for the character Neytiri in his blockbuster film, "Avatar." The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, also names Lightstorm Entertainment and several visual effects companies as defendants.

According to the complaint, Kilcher's unique biometric facial features were replicated through various stages of production, including in production sketches, sculpted into three-dimensional maquettes, laser-scanned into high-resolution digital models, and distributed to multiple visual effects vendors. This process ultimately formed the iconic image of Neytiri, which has since been featured in theaters, on posters, in merchandise, and across sequels and re-releases, all without Kilcher's permission or awareness.

Arnold P. Peter of Peter Law Group, lead counsel for Kilcher, stated, "What Cameron did was not inspiration, it was extraction. He took the unique biometric facial features of a 14-year-old Indigenous girl, ran them through an industrial production process, and generated billions of dollars in profit without ever once asking her permission. That is not filmmaking. That is theft."

The filing details a meeting between Kilcher and Cameron at a charity event shortly after "Avatar"'s 2009 release. Cameron invited Kilcher to his office, where a staff member presented her with a framed print of a sketch Cameron had made. Attached was a handwritten note from Cameron acknowledging, "Your beauty was my early inspiration for Neytiri. Too bad you were shooting another movie. Next time." Kilcher initially perceived this as a personal gesture related to casting or her activism, unaware of the extensive use of her likeness in the film's production pipeline.

The truth, according to the complaint, came to light for Kilcher late last year when a broadcast video interview with Cameron circulated online. In the interview, Cameron stands before the Neytiri sketch and explicitly identifies Kilcher, stating, "The actual source for this was a photo in the L.A. Times, a young actress named Q’orianka Kilcher. This is actually her…her lower face. She had a very interesting face."

The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants violated California’s recently enacted deepfake pornography statute. Kilcher expressed her deep disturbance, saying, "It is deeply disturbing to learn that my face, as a 14-year-old girl, was taken and used without my knowledge or consent to help create a commercial asset that has generated enormous value for Disney and Cameron." The first "Avatar" film garnered over $2.92 billion worldwide, making the series one of the highest-grossing film franchises globally. Kilcher's co-counsel, Asher Hoffman, added that "The complaint describes a deliberate analog-to-digital creative process that misappropriated Ms. Kilcher’s identity."

Kilcher is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, disgorgement of profits attributable to the use of her likeness, injunctive relief, and corrective public disclosure. Variety has contacted Disney and Cameron for their comments on the matter.