Bailey Bass talks about how her appearance in "Avatar" helped her family afford basic necessities.

Welcome to Nice Talk, hosted by Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Nikki Ogunike. Each week, Nikki talks about money, power, and style with entertainers, entrepreneurs, creators, athletes, changemakers, and other fascinating women. For too long, "well-mannered" women have been discouraged from talking about these topics. Style should be effortless, and conversations about money and power are not "appropriate," "ladylike," or "nice." However, Nikki's definition of "nice talk" is one where all parties walk away feeling empowered; Nice Talk with Nikki Ogunnaike is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Actress Bailey Bass' life changed in many ways after appearing in Avatar: The Way of Water.

Bass said on the latest episode of Marie Claire's "Nice Talk" podcast that when she booked James Cameron's blockbuster movie at age 13, she and her family felt a sense of relief, having previously been on welfare and food stamps.

"I remember bursting into tears when I found out I got the part [in Avatar]," she said. Bass, now 21 and best known for her role as Claudia on AMC's "Interview with the Vampire" series, says. [When she was chosen to play the role of Tsireya, a freediver and daughter of Ronal, played by Kate Winslet, and Tonowari, played by Cliff Curtis, she says, "I was like, 'Oh, my God, I'm going to be a free diver. So we knew it would help us, and it did."

Given the long production schedule of the film, which is set for release in December 2022, Bass recalls in Nice Talk that it wasn't until she was 16 that she realized how much her role in the franchise would affect her and those she loved. She explained that she once burst into tears on her way home from the grocery store with her mother.

"I looked at my mother and said, 'Mom, when this movie comes out, I'm going to buy you a Mercedes,'" Bass recalls.

"I didn't grow up financially well off. My mother was a single mother and she took care of my grandparents, my two younger brothers and me, and we had a dog."

She added, "What I remember being very overwhelmed by was when I got my period. My mother didn't cry in front of me, but she told me about it later.

But in Avatar: World of Water, Bass was finally able to make her "first big purchase" and get the Mercedes she and her mother had dreamed of. It wasn't for me, it was for my mother." She said, "I want to buy you this car." I felt like, "I did it."

Now, Bass is more excited about where she is in her career (both acting and producing other projects). She says, "I'm very competitive and very ambitious, so I keep pushing the finish line further and further away. But when I bought my mom a Mercedes, I was like, "Yes!" I was like, "Yes! But throughout my career, I've realized that there are a lot of "I-made-it" moments."

For more on Bass's journey to financial security, her jewelry brand BaiBai, and her efforts to produce children's entertainment, listen to her episode of Nice Talk, available now wherever you listen to podcasts.