The granddaughter of Charlie Chaplin, who is featured in an upcoming installment of the Avatar franchise, has expressed her thoughts on potentially dropping her renowned surname.
Oona Chaplin, who is part of James Cameron’s latest Avatar movie, Fire and Ash, has contemplated changing her last name to create some distance from her legendary grandfather.
Born in London, England, Charlie Chaplin rose to fame during the silent film era and remained a prominent figure in the film industry until his death in 1977. His iconic screen persona earned him international stardom, and he is still revered as a significant contributor to the industry.
Oona has shared her experiences regarding living in the shadow of her grandfather, whom she never met.
In an interview with The Times, the 39-year-old actress said: “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,” she added, explaining that she almost considered removing her last name after she graduated from London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Nonetheless, she ultimately decided against it. Her perspective shifted from feeling ‘guilt to gratitude’ after she ‘worked really hard and realized that whatever she does is never going to compare to what her grandfather accomplished.’
“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.”
Oona’s name is a tribute not only to Chaplin but also to her grandmother.
Her first name is inspired by Charlie’s fourth wife, Oona O’Neill, who was the daughter of famed playwright Eugene O’Neill.
Oona was born in Madrid, Spain, to English-American actress Geraldine Chaplin and filmmaker Patricio Castilla.
After traveling extensively, she intended to settle in Cuba permanently.
As she recounted: “I pretty much kind of was practicing quitting acting and I built myself a treehouse in the jungle in Cuba, and I was like, ‘I’m going to live here now, so I’m done’.”
However, when the opportunity arose to portray the villain Varang in Avatar, she couldn’t pass it up.
“It made me fall in love with acting again,” she stated. “It helped me also develop this immense gratitude for my profession and for the gift of telling stories that I’d kind of forgotten about.”
Avatar: Fire and Ash is currently showing in theaters.