Marcos Melendez is an entertainment journalist who has been active since 2017. His past work can be read on Collider, Escapist, ScreenRant, CBR, and Full Circle Cinema. He is currently a News Editor for MovieWeb.
Avatar: Fire and Ash is now in theaters, and while the franchise is known for having great villains, the third film may take the cake with its fiercest foe yet. Oona Chaplin brings the most inspired performance in the sci-fi series yet as Varang, one of the breakout characters in the latest sequel. The actress has now talked about her real-life heritage, represented by her incredibly famous last name.
In an interview with The Times (via Variety), Oona Chaplin, the granddaughter of legendary actor Charlie Chaplin, revealed that she once considered changing her name in order to distance herself from the iconic figure. While addressing the possibility of her last name opening doors for her, Chaplin said it’s been a journey to “feel deserving” of her place in Hollywood.
“It’s been a journey to feel deserving, because I know that doors have opened for me that potentially wouldn’t have opened if I wasn’t associated with this brilliant man. It’s definitely tricky to feel undeserving of the place you’re in.”
Though she nearly changed her name, Chaplin ultimately decided against it, as guilt eventually turned into gratitude.
“— from guilt to gratitude by working really hard and knowing that whatever I do is never going to compare to what my grandfather did. If all my purpose in this realm is for people to say, ‘Oh, Charlie Chaplin’s granddaughter,’ and they google him and watch a movie of his, then I’m happy because he’s such a genius.”
More to come.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
