-Thanks so much for coming back to the show.
-Are you kidding? I love being here.
-We love having you here.
And look at this. On the cover of "Elle."
Looking gorgeous as always.
They call you "the legend," by the way.
-Does it say that? -"The legend."
-I thought it was "a legend." -Yeah.
-I didn't know I was "the legend."
-Of course. "The" legend.
-I haven't had the cards made up.
-That's got to feel good, though, right?
Do you feel like a legend? -Well, I'll tell you.
I wondered if it had any practical application, you know?
Like, would I still be able to wear sweatpants?
-[ Laughs ] Yeah.
-Would this help me get out of emptying the dishwasher?
-No. A legend doesn't --
-So I'm still waiting to find out.
-Yeah, the legendary status.
I was looking through your credits, as well,
just to see everything.
You've just been in so many epic movies, and it's just insane.
And I was looking through this.
You've been Oscar-nominated three times,
Emmy-nominated four times, Tony-nominated.
You won two Golden Globes.
I think it kind of makes you a legend.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Yeah. -Yeah.
-I think it makes you a legend. Yeah.
-It's exciting.
-Legends are always welcome here.
-Thank you. I think if you last long enough,
someone will give you a "legend."
-You're so cool. You're too cool.
Every time you come, I always want to talk about
and say thanks to your dad
because Pat Weaver -- without your dad,
thinking up the idea of "Today" show and "Tonight Show,"
which is true, I wouldn't have a job.
So thank you very much. I always thank you.
I want to put it out there. [ Cheers and applause ]
-He'd be so excited that the show is so wonderful
and so many people enjoy it all over the country.
-It's wild. I wish -- You know, I do --
I think about -- I do think about your dad.
I think about Steve Allen and Johnny Carson,
and I go, like, "I wish that they could see how big
the show is now because..." -Yeah.
-Even through the Internet and streaming now, the --
It's worldwide. It's global.
-That's true. It's a much bigger party than it was.
-Is this what got you into show business?
Like, coming to the "Today" show
and seeing your dad in show business?
-Well, I did used to come to the "Today" show,
not "The Tonight Show," because I had an early bedtime.
-Yeah, you were little.
-Yeah, I used to come, and there was that nasty chimp,
J. Fred Muggs.
-Wait. There was a monkey that was the mascot.
-Yeah, a little monkey in clothes,
which is not good for them. -Yeah, he would wear --
-He was the mascot for the "Today" show?
-He wasn't a mascot.
He became, like, the other person at the table.
They needed something
to make the show more entertaining, I guess.
-And you would come see and you hang out with him?
-No, I would not hang out with him.
I was afraid of him.
The first time I met him, he leaped off the desk,
onto my shoulders, took my little hat
that only went with this dress-up coat,
and ran down the hallway with it
and tore it into shreds. I never saw it again.
-I mean, he's an animal. That's crazy.
-It amazing I was able to do
"Gorillas in the Mist" so many years later.
-Exactly. You were traumatized.
But you would come here and go like,
"Wait. What is show business?
I don't understand what this job is."
-Well, I remember, you know,
he didn't bring us into the network, you know.
He was doing "Show of Shows," too,
and all these different things. -Wow.
-But he used to come home with a smile on his face
and very lighthearted.
So, I mean, live TV was, I imagine, quite stressful,
but he seemed to be hanging out with great people,
and he loved to laugh.
My father had a laugh. Just he would -- It would --
He would just not be able to stop laughing when he laughed.
And I thought, "Well, show business, maybe it's fun."
-Yeah, I think it actually is. -Yeah.
-Turned out -- Thank gosh you got into show business.
-It is all about the people. -It is fun, yeah.
I know we probably can't talk about much about the --
But I know you're in the biggest-grossing
movie of all time, "Avatar,"
and they just made -- No big deal.
[ Cheers and applause ] No big deal.
Add to the legend. Add to the legend.
well, there's a sequel that's coming up.
There's another sequel. We can't even --
Can we talk about what it's about
or if it's coming? Are you --
-There are going to be four more.
This is "Avatar 2" coming out in December.
We shot "2" and "3" together a few years ago now.
And I play a 14-year-old girl.
-Yes.
-Of course. -Yeah. Why wouldn't you? Yeah.
-I was delighted to be offered that job
because I had never done anything like that.
[ Cheers and applause ]
And I dare say John Wayne was never asked to play
a 14-year-old girl.
-Is it fun -- That must be -- Yeah, that must be fun
to get into your 14-year-old self.
Do you think back to when you were 14?
-Were you a happy 14-year-old?
[ Laughter ] -I mean, I probably was.
I mean, I think I had a pretty happy life.
I was a happy-go-lucky kid. -That's good.
-A lot of 14-year-olds, yeah, it's a tough couple years.
-Puberty. I mean, I --
I was this tall when I was 11. -Were you really?
-I was like this. "Hi." -Oh, no. Oh, no.
-I was very shy. I was very self-conscious.
So I did, of course, try to channel my --
my very self-conscious, awkward, you know, teenager.
And I think actually that's what Jim wanted,
although he said when he offered me the part,
he said, "You know, she's a 14-year-old girl,
but that's about how old you are anyway
because you're such a goof ball. You can do this."
-Yeah. I love that. In this movie, you had to learn
how to, like, hold your breath for a long time.
-We did. -A lot of it's underwater.
-Yeah, we had to learn to free dive, and the first thing --
And we had this amazing teacher named Kirk Krack
who teaches the Navy SEALs.
So we had him for about a year
training us to do breath holds,
and, you know, I actually got up to six and a half minutes.
[ Audience ohhs ]
[ Cheers and applause ] Legend.
-Legend, legend, legend. That's how you become one.
How do you -- -No, no, no, but I --
-Do you freak out? -I was not moving.
It's much easier to hold your breath when you're --
-I can't hold my breath for 30 seconds.
-But you could if Kirk Krack taught you.
-What is the secret? Can you tell us?
-The secret is training up so that you --
The urge to breathe is a natural instinct.
So when you're trying to just keep a breath hold --
Of course, I also had enhanced oxygen.
This is 30% oxygen,
and I had like, you know, 50% or 60% oxygen.
Anyway, when the desire to breathe comes,
he called it "the dirty villain."
And you ignore the dirty villain.
And you go, "Ha! You, go away!"
And then you try to do all these mind games.
Like, I used to paint myself blue, you know, pretend,
and then I'd sing, "Speed Bunny Boat,"
like, you know, "Bird on the Wing."
Anything you can do to keep from thinking about,
"I really want to breathe."
-No way. -Yeah.
-So if you're in trouble, you've got to go --
What do you do? They have things --
-Well, I think we have --
We had a lot of safety. The biggest challenge, frankly --
Because "Avatar 2" takes place
a lot in the water and around the water.
But what Jim asked us to do, which was, I thought, hard,
was when you're underneath the water, you can't go...
You know?
You have to pretend you're so happy. You have to go...
-That's what I'm talking about. -Yeah.
That's good acting. I'm going to practice.
Next time you come back,
I will show you my underwater acting.
More with Sigourney Weaver.
I want to talk about your new movie, "Call Jane,"
when we come back, everybody.