Avatar: The Last Airbenderis well-known for having an extremely memorable cast of varied, complex characters. Now, over ten years after the original animated series aired on Nickelodeon, a new cast will bring these characters to life in Netflix’s live-action adaptation. Each new cast member took a unique and thorough approach to identifying the heart of theirAvatar: The Last Airbendercharacter.
“What did you find to be the heart of your character?” asked the moderator of theAvatarpress conference recently attended by Game Rant. It was a seemingly simple question, but it prompted several seconds of silence from theNetflix series' castbefore they answered. Ultimately, their responses showed a deep connection to and passion for the characters they play.
Ozai’s Heart Is His Relationships And His Choices
Daniel Dae Kim faces the difficult task of portrayingFire Lord Ozai, the series' main villain, who did not appear until the final season of the originalAvatarseries. The Netflix adaptation ofAvatar: The Last Airbenderwill add additional scenes for Ozai, allowing him to appear much earlier. When asked about the heart of the stern, militaristic Fire Lord, Kim said:
Relationships. Ozai is a father, he’s a son, he’s a brother, and he’s also a leader of people. Ozai made a lot of different choices than I did as a parent - and some had some really terrible consequences.
Ozai is the father to Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu) and Princess Azula (Elizabeth Yu), and he has a very different relationship with both. At the beginning of the series, Zuko has been exiled from the Fire Nation, while Azula remains faithful and seeks her father’s approval. Kim feels that Ozai may have made many mistakes parenting his children, pushing them rather than guiding them and prioritizing his own needs over there. He also believes that Ozai’s relationship with hisbrother Iroh(Paul Sun-Hyung Lee) is crucial because Iroh is the older brother, but Ozai holds political power over him. He found it fascinating to explore such an imbalanced relationship between brothers.
The Younger Generation Is Also Defined By Relationships
The Fire Lord’s two children, Liu and Yu, both agreed that Zuko andAzula’s relationship with their fatherwas key to understanding the characters. Yu explained that Azula also deals with the added pressure of being a woman in a position of power in a “male-dominated kingdom,” trying to live up to her father’s legacy. She watched several YouTube video essays analyzing Azula and noted that words like “crazy” and “insane” were often used to refer to her. “Would Azula have been called these things if she were a man?” Yu asked, stating that she felt answering questions like these was key to understanding Azula.
Ian Ousley, who plays theWater Tribe warrior Sokka, had a different answer. “Humor,” he responded near-immediately when asked about the “heart” of his character. “The heart of Sokka is the comedy, and then the human vulnerability breaking through the seams of that.” Ousley went on to explain that he feels like Sokka uses humor as a shield. Sokka’s need for such a shield, Ousley explained, again comes from the character’s relationships. Sokka lost his mother at a young age and then was forced to take a leadership role in the Water Tribe when his father led the men off to war. For years, Sokka has felt the burden of protecting his sister Katara and the rest of the Water Tribe, retreating into jokes and comedy to cope with this heavy responsibility.
The focus on relationships between the characters will be on full display in the first season ofNetflix’sAvatar: The Last Airbender,which will include the beginning of Aang, Sokka, and Katara’s journey together as well as Zuko’s attempts to capture Aang to regain his honor and his father’s favor.
