Oona Chaplin contemplated changing her surname early on in her acting career to dodge nepotism claims.
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The 39-year-old is the granddaughter of the silent film legend Charlie Chaplin - who died of a stroke aged 88 in 1977, nine years before she was born - and the daughter of actor Geraldine Chaplin, 81, and cinematographer Patricio Castilla.
Oona Chaplin thought about changing her surname after graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, feeling undeserving at times when securing roles because of her famous showbiz family.
The Avatar: Fire and Ash star told The Sunday Times newspaper: "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."
However, her mindset changed from "guilt to gratitude by working really hard and knowing that whatever I do is never going to compare to what my grandfather did".
She is the granddaughter of the silent film legend Charlie Chaplin - who died of a stroke aged 88 in 1977, nine years before she was born - and the daughter of actor Geraldine Chaplin, 81, and cin,e m3a9trapher
"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," she said.
In Avatar: Fire and Ash, Chaplin plays villain Varang, and director James Cameron, 71, selected her over three "movie stars" because he was impressed with her "sexuality", "dominating psychology", "fury" and being able to "move fluidly back and forth between those" in a way the others did not.
Chaplin was thrilled to audition for Cameron and praised him for making her feel "at ease".
"There are not a lot of things that would have gotten me out of my treehouse, but a call to meet Jim Cameron definitely did," she recalled to The Hollywood Reporter.
"He's one of my heroes - Aliens! Terminator! Titanic! I was very starstruck. But very quickly, he very much put me at ease because he just felt like a kid that wants to play."
Australian Associated Press
