'Avatar' Stars Sam Worthington & Zoe Saldaña on Their Memorable First Meeting | Double Talk | PEOPLE

I'm proud of the fact that Jim has lost bets um of of whether or not thank you of whether or not I can I can hit a mark so he'll like you know he'll be like go hit that and and in my mind I'm like there's no way I can. I think he lost a lot of money he lost a lot of money on betting against Zoe. Exactly one time it was I think the first time was a hundred bucks. It slowly went down because you were getting better. And then the second time it was like a quarter if you can hit it Zoe. First time we met was in a hotel bar. In 2006. Yep at a hotel bar we were both staying at that hotel because we had been flown in. And Jim I said to Jim can I meet the person that you want to play Natiri because I'd like to audition with them. I think that will help me you know get but it was yeah and then I met Zoe talked I wooed her charmed her found out a bit later that she had no idea what I was saying she couldn't understand my accent. But look at him he's like talked or wooed or first of all he comes down and I'm like I'm the one that's like chatty Cathy and he's like yeah yeah yeah yeah and I'm like oh and then when he would talk um I had no idea yes because his act you know the Australian accent was an accent that it was unfamiliar to me but also he spoke really fast. And then you know when when we both booked the part um we were training together so we found solace in making fun of each other in in how you know they had put a Jim right outside the set remember like that trailer Jim and they had you working out there they're trying to get me they were trying to get you to work out and I would come I'm like I'm just gonna work out with Sam and his trainer I was always finding an excuse not to all the time I just want to keep my family safe the older he gets the quicker he is to reply versus like back then it was like you know and I didn't hear from him like a year and then he would find my email somewhere and I could just hear him like he writes like it like he speaks and then um since marrying his wife and starting this beautiful family between us we have a football team we have six boys rambunctious and inquisitive and bossy and wild and crazy so we've gotten them together we've gone trick-or-treating together these and it's um you know and every now and then like I look at him and I'm trying not to cry because I'm a sap I'm a natural sap and so is Sam but we're not going to say that um and we are quite grateful well I get front row seat that's the look at it you know it's not necessarily about the end product I love the process of filmmaking that's and this is you know it's wild what we do and it's you know it's groundbreaking what we do but at the end of the day we're doing it with each other and pushing each other and you know I get to see many different takes that Zoe puts into the scene you you the end product only has the take that has been chosen but I get to see many different versions of it and journeys of it and I journey with it and that's always exciting with someone like Zoe because we get to play a lot that's what this process is about just playing and experimenting and pushing it out to its extremes and bringing it back and just searching for truth in imaginary circumstances performance capture is a gift I get to see someone like Sam that um he brings such such strength to Jake but there's a there's a level of fragility to to this to this boy this man you know and and that's that's quite endearing that we get to have all this beautiful fantastic journey and we do it under this safety umbrella of James Cameron's I need you with me and I need you to be strong strong heart my kids favorite job of mine is dad yeah that's it that's what my kids think I do yeah but when they know I do they have an idea um but they haven't really connected all these dots you know they think it's kids know that um yeah they do they do because they're you know they're being raised by by two artists and and my husband uh my husband is quite eccentric so um and he's very proud he's very vocal and he's you know my husband is of the vein of like no we should they it should be natural it should be comfortable to be in our worlds because what is ripping them away from you they need to know what it is as opposed to she goes out I just don't know where she is and it hurts to to not be close to her so when those questions came up like well where do you go when you're not here with me this is what I do you know and um however we do measure the whole fame because fame hits them quicker than the work you know because sometimes you're you're you're you're caught and people take pictures of you or they ask you for pictures when you're with your children so these concepts become very confusing to them and you you navigate it but they asked for the first time can we come to the premiere um with you and um and I asked him well can are you ready to watch avatar mom you know it's too scary we're not ready we'll do it when we're 10 I'm like so at 10 you'll come to the premiere and you'll watch the movie but you cannot walk with me if you don't know what mommy's doing because I don't want them to have just like an incomplete um you know idea to what we do and if that introduction is is the fame part when people are you know taking your picture and flashes and that over stimulation no no they need to know what that's connected to they're into legos uh one wants to be a dj so he's getting a turntable like sunday for his birthday uh one is golfing and the other one is uh you know playing the piano and then like obsessed with music from 1980s like specifically like 1982 83 I guess you wonder where I've been so to see this little young thing like with this old soul where like where did you get that my kids are crazy they're awesome yeah I remember one of your rocket was into science you're into everything it's the you know they're still young so they're into everything well when it came to the the the underwater training um my kids yeah my kids were a lot you know smaller and so as they began their schooling you know to to learn to swim I do remember that I was much more confident in the water so I I kind of like unconsciously passed that confidence down to them as opposed to introducing my children to the water by fear because that's the way it was taught to me it's like enjoy it but be careful be careful my kids don't have that instinct so they're kind of half fish and I owe it to to avatar way of water