By Mr. Will Wong
Animated Nickelodeon series AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER left behind a legacy that is remembered to this day with a devout following. Lasting 2005-2008, the Series is now re-imagined in the live-action format, ready to be unleashed on Netflix later this month!
Synopsis:
The four nations – water, earth, fire and air – once lived in harmony, only to undergo upheaval. Hope lies in Aang (Gordon Cormier), a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — who realizes his destiny as the next Avatar. He and others in the Southern Water Tribe embarks on a journey to save the world from the tyrannical Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim), all while Crown Prince Zuko (Dallas James Liu) is in pursuit of them. AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER is not only about the journey, but the many personalities Aang and his allies encounter along the way.
We were thrilled to partake in a virtual press junket with the Cast of this exciting new Series, which happened to be filmed here at home in Vancouver. Joining us were:
The Cast are asked what the orignal Nickelodeon series meant to them, including the Lead Actor Gordon Cormier, who happens to be Canadian.
Cormier: “Yeah, no, I didn’t actually watch it before I booked the role. But after I figured out what the show was, I started watching it and binging it, and then really fell in love with my character, with the TV show, and since then, I’ve seen it about 26 times. So, people could say I like the show.”.
Kiawentio: “Yeah, I grew up with the show, so I wish I had a moment that was like when I first discovered it. But it was just kind of like always in my life. I was born like after it came out, so [laugh], so yeah, but I have older siblings that would watch it too. So, it was just kind of like always a part of my life growing up. And then rediscovering it later when it was put on Netflix and just falling in love all over again.
Ousley: “The Last Airbender was something that I did watch as a kid before landing the role. And it is actually a huge reason why I started participating in martial arts. And as you guys know, like, you know, there’s a lot of bending sequences and, you know, a lot of the bending styles are influenced by real life martial arts styles. So, just beiing able to be a part of this has been a privilege.”.
The Cast, including veterans Daniel Dae Kim (Lost, Hawaii Five-0) and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim’s Convenience) are asked about their experiencing ‘bending’ on-camera and attending bootcamp for it. The method of Martial Arts, based on the Baguazhang style, involves smooth coiling and uncoiling actions, employing dynamic footwork, throws, and hand techniques
Leung: “Well, I mean, we didn’t see what it would look like until, you know, [laugh] until afterwards. So, I mean, for me, it was more about a kind of concentrated energy. And it was this choreographed motion. So, it was, I mean, it was that. It was like a choreographed, you know, it was choreography.
Cormier: “Oh, okay. What was the boot camp like? It was incredible, personally, for me. I was really high energy, or I am real high energy person. No lie there. But it was really exciting for me personally because I also really enjoyed the Martial Arts part of it. And I had so much energy. Like it would be so easy for me to go on and on and on, run forms back to back to back to back, and just wire work was incredible. So, I had a really good experience with boot camp.”.
Kim: “Can I just say that, you know, all these young actors here, they were running around, doing their scenes, prepping their work as actors, and then in between set ups, they were coming into the stage where they had the stunts set up and pads and all the stunt people were waiting there. So, there was very little down time for everybody. Their work ethic was exemplary. They were taking time that they didn’t have to be there and wanting to make things right. And that was really impressive for us OGs to see.”.
Lee: “Man, that was humbling. It was humbling because, and props to the entire stunt team, the coordinators, the fight choreographers. They really brought it and for me, it was an intensive like two or three week process where I had to go in and they would video, they would record each session on an iPhone.”.
“And I had to learn how to move, how to breathe properly. I’d have to stretch, which is something that become harder and harder as the days go by, right? And so, we’d be working these scenes and then we’d work out the choreo and we’d run it and they’d tape it and I’d go okay. And in your brain, you’re thinking I look really good. And then you watch the playback and you go, oh, no, I do not look as good as I think I am. And so, the patience of the team was tremendous. And when you feel you have that level of support, and from every source we felt we were fully supported. Like that’s what I loved about the experience was they worked with us tirelessly and they were always available if we wanted to do extra. Because they wanted us to succeed, and they knew the bending has to look right. In this world, for it to be believable, you have to do it right. And I love that commitment to detail. And as a performer, you don’t wanna let people down, either.”
“And it also helps when you have a prodigy who’s doing all the heavy lifting in all the sequences to just sort of like lean back and watch him do his magic. And all of them really, it is a tremendous privilege to see them do their thing. And it’s gonna be wonderful when the rest of the world gets to see them do their thing.”.
The Cast also are asked about the resources and inspirations used in bringing their characters to life in live-action.
Yu: “Well, obviously the original show. And I watched a lot of YouTube videos of the fans breaking down. And I think it was also important to note how the audience viewed these people. Yeah, and you know, we have the comics as well. I think that something I connected with Azula more profoundly with is this sort of place where she is where she’s a woman in power surrounded by a male dominated kingdom, you know. And I think that that struggle a lot of women can connect to and also the word being thrown around where, you know, she’s crazy or she’s insane. I feel like that is really telling for, you know, what women in power go through. And I think on our show, we sort of like stray away from that and kind of explain further into who she is and where she’s coming from. Yeah. I think I pull a lot from myself to be able to connect with her because it’s so outlandish sometimes, she may be doing.”.
Liu: “Similar to Lizzy, I also did a deep dive into YouTube analysis videos. But I really think our source material was research in itself. Every time we got scripts and things like that, because there are a lot of similarities, but also many differences in our show. And so sometimes, you know, when the circumstances of our characters might slightly be different, I think it changes that character as well while maintaining the essence of what the original creators had in mind.”.
“And also at the end of the day, because we are making this live action adaptation, I don’t think anybody here would wanna do an impersonation of these characters, of an animation. I think we really did our best in making these people real and allowing for everything that was going on in the world to, you know, be grounded.”.
AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER arrives February 22, 2024 on Netflix.
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