James Cameron hopes that Zoe Saldaña will take home Oscar gold for her performance in Emilia Pérez, a film he has seen three times.

James Cameron probably knows that he’ll never direct someone to an Oscar, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t pulling for his actors. And his main focus right now is on Avatar star Zoe Saldaña, who is in good position to nab herself an Academy Award for Emilia Pérez.

James Cameron recently spoke with Ringer Movies (via CBR) to praise Saldaña, who has played Neytiri te Tskaha Mo’at’ite for the director twice so far, with even more sequels on the way. “[Zoe Saldaña] is fantastic in it. This is her season, maybe, to be recognized at the stature she should be recognized, So, there’s a lot of things in it that I just find fascinating. Speaking on the film as a whole, James Cameron said, “What I saw that blew me away was Emilia Pérez. I have seen it three times now. It’s just not like any other film that’s ever been made, you know? I mean, I think it’s bold, it’s daring, it’s a vision. It’s beautifully executed. It’s a beautiful piece of filmmaking.”

The odds are in Zoe Saldaña’s favor to take home her first Oscar after just one nomination. But there might be some minor controversy behind it, as the campaign has put her in the supporting category when she has more screen time than co-star Karla Sofía Gascón, who has been put in the lead category. Saldaña, Gascón, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz all shared the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress.

But Zoe Saldaña has had far bigger issues with the Oscars, questioning why motion capture performances get ignored by the Academy. “It is quite deflating when you give 120 per cent of yourself into something. I mean, not winning is OK, not being nominated is OK, but when you’re overlooked and then minimised and completely disregarded…” Here’s hoping that doesn’t actually hurt her Oscar chances…

While the Oscar nominations won’t come out until January 17th, Emilia Pérez did lead the Golden Globe nominations with 10, the second-most in history after 1975’s Nashville.

Have you seen Emilia Pérez? Do you think Zoe Saldaña will take home the Oscar?