How Kate Winslet broke records with 'Avatar: the Way of Water'

Kate Winslet is breaking boundaries... under water!

The buzz is intensifying around 'Avatar: The Way of Water,' James Cameron's sequel to the successful Avatar movie of 2009. And Kate Winslet's role in the film promises to be something special! Read further to see how she broke several records while making it.She's once again going underwater

The award-winning actress worked with James Cameron on a big, sinking ship in 1997. Now, a quarter of a century later, she's going underwater once again, with the same director.

The underwater sequel to 'Avatar,' 'The Way of Water,' is coming out on December 16. It is one of the most anticipated movies of the year, as its first installment came out almost 13 years ago.

'Avatar' topped the box office in 2009. The blue-skinned aliens impressed the public, along with the tropical other-worldly setting and the environmental messages of the film.

It was a big surprise for many to hear that Kate Winslet joined the cast of the movie's sequel. It's her first collaboration with Cameron since 'Titanic' in 1997.

Playing a member of the Metkayina clan, a mysterious character named Ronal, Winslet has risen to the challenge of filming underwater. As far as the reports from the set go, she's done a great job.

Because, yes, as you may remember, this is an underwater movie. In the photos released by 20th Century Fox, the whole setting of the movie looks idyllic.

As the story goes, the Sully family has to leave the rainforest of Pandora for a "safe harbor" at the reef. In this new environment, they meet another clan called the Metkayina. And Kate Winslet is among them.

Winslet and the other actors have had to train for months to hold their breath underwater. It's the same training that aquatic athletes go through as well.

Much of the filming took place in a 900,000-gallon tank which was built specifically for the sequels. It mimicked the ocean's swirling currents and crashing waves.

As producer Landau recalls, "we had this circular tank, maybe 40 feet wide, with a big glass portal in it. I walked by one day and I see Kate Winslet walking on the bottom of the tank. She’s walking towards me and sees me in the window, and she just waves, gets to the end of the wall, turns around, and walks all the way back."

The most impressive thing was that Kate Winslet "blew everybody away when she did a seven-and-a-half-minute breath-hold," according to Cameron.

This means that Winslet has yet another title to her name: she has broken Tom Cruise's underwater filming record from 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation' (2015) of six minutes.

Winslet is joining a star-studded cast with Sigourney Weaver, Vin Diesel, Zoe Saldaña, and Sam Worthington, among others. The 72-year-old Sigourney Weaver, in the image, reportedly managed to hold her breath for six and a half minutes.

Thanks to the star cast and the amazing investments in the film's special effects, 'Avatar: The Way of Water' promises to be a spectacular movie.

-showbizz daily