Avatar_ The Last Airbender_ Who Is MOST Like Their Character (Exclusive)
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00:00 I'll just firebend real quick up.
00:02 [laughter]
00:05 Get a sneak peek right there.
00:06 I love it. That's exclusive there.
00:08 [dramatic music]
00:09 I don't know where this will all lead,
00:11 but the one thing I do know is...
00:12 [dramatic music]
00:14 I'm the Avatar.
00:15 Who is the most like their character?
00:17 It's definitely...
00:18 [laughter]
00:20 It's good right here.
00:22 But Ian's very close too.
00:24 Yeah.
00:25 [laughter]
00:26 Yeah, like, I got to live with Ian while we were shooting,
00:29 and Bro kept me so positive and happy
00:33 during some of my most stressful moments.
00:36 And I think that's a nod to actually Sokka
00:40 looking after Aang and Katara.
00:42 The original animated series has such a huge dedicated fan base.
00:46 How do you approach the responsibility
00:47 of portraying these characters?
00:49 With reverence.
00:50 [laughter]
00:51 With respect.
00:53 I mean, we're all fans of the show now.
00:55 And we were all fans before,
00:57 and then Gordon was not born yet.
00:59 So when he got the role, he made himself a fan,
01:04 and he loves the show.
01:05 So I think it's just awesome to be able to try to do it
01:10 in real characters.
01:12 And then you all go through these physical transformations
01:14 to really embody them.
01:16 When you first saw yourselves in the full getup
01:18 for the first time, what did that feel like,
01:20 and how did you react?
01:22 I feel like I kind of went into shock a little bit.
01:24 [laughter]
01:25 Because it's so real when it's actually on you,
01:29 and you're actually looking at yourself in this character.
01:32 And it's just like, you just kind of don't know what to say.
01:36 It kind of took my breath away.
01:37 Yeah.
01:38 Because I think it was--
01:40 the fitting was the first time I saw myself
01:43 in the parka and stuff.
01:45 Like, there's no way this is real.
01:46 [laughter]
01:48 When we got our head shaved, we were both like,
01:52 "Oh my God, we're bald."
01:54 [laughter]
01:55 Well, partially bald.
01:59 And I remember you also got your hair cut,
02:01 and it was crazy because you had long hair.
02:03 They shaved it off the sides and gave you a little
02:06 warrior wolf tail, and you were just like, "Oh."
02:09 I know. Yeah, I had this really long hair
02:11 because they told me not to touch it for three months
02:15 or something like that.
02:16 And I was like, "Wow, I have a ponytail right now."
02:19 And I never thought that would happen.
02:21 But that was the most transformative.
02:23 I was looking in the mirror.
02:24 I had the fitting before, too, but I had that long hair.
02:27 But once I got my pony-- my wolf tail,
02:29 I was like, "Oh, man, this is--
02:32 We've got the ponies in the back.
02:33 Yeah.
02:34 Honestly, for me, it was during our camera test
02:38 when we had first worked in the volume.
02:40 They had done a camera test for each of our characters
02:42 and set us up in our own backgrounds and environments.
02:46 So being on camera, feeling the lighting and the intensity,
02:51 that's what honestly got us all into character.
02:54 Like, putting on the costume and physically moving around
02:57 in character was incredible.
02:59 Yeah.
02:59 Watching that sweat bead roll down with no hair to catch it.
03:02 Feeling the ponytail smack the back of my head
03:04 when I'm running.
03:05 There's a lot of big action sequences and fights.
03:07 And also, the bending element of it
03:08 has to be a whole training in itself.
03:10 What was that like?
03:11 Yeah, we did a boot camp before we started filming
03:16 for around two months, just training every day
03:20 and going over movements and learning our martial arts
03:25 forms and stuff.
03:28 So for me, I was learning a Tai Chi, Wu Shu mix.
03:34 And just basically trying to get my body stronger
03:38 to hold these forms.
03:39 And my legs, we really built my legs
03:42 to be able to hold these things.
03:45 Because you're in a horse stance.
03:47 And you're not only in a horse stance in a fight,
03:49 but filming it, too.
03:51 So they're like, OK, just stay there.
03:53 Hold that.
03:54 And you're leg shaking.
03:55 No, it's so true.
03:56 It's so true.
03:57 Four minutes later.
03:58 Come on, keep on.
03:59 Yeah, literally.
04:00 What would you say the biggest differences or new elements
04:02 are that are introduced into the show?
04:06 There are differences.
04:08 And that's kind of unavoidable.
04:11 That's just what it is.
04:13 But I feel like we did it in a way
04:15 to still pay homage to the original,
04:17 but just make it our own.
04:19 And kind of just take that path of tweaks, not changes.
04:26 You know what I mean?
04:27 Yeah.
04:29 Just to give it a new life, a new outlook,
04:32 and make it more real, too.
04:34 It's like a similar run time to the first season
04:36 of the animated show.
04:38 So we kept--
04:40 I mean, I think everything that we kept the fans
04:43 are going to love the same through line.
04:47 But yeah, just like when you add it to a real life element,
04:51 it is really cool.
04:53 And it makes its own unique thing with--
04:57 totally breathed by the animated series.
05:00 Yeah.
05:00 Certainly in the relationships between all the characters,
05:05 there's some things that you just can't adapt.
05:07 So Albert did a great job of making those changes,
05:11 committing to them, and making them work
05:13 so beautifully in our show.
05:15 Reality is just the biggest part of our live action.
05:18 Like, we actually get to see what Aang is going through,
05:21 and what Zuko is going through, and what
05:22 Sokka and Katara are going through.
05:25 And it's all just a real perspective from real people.
05:29 And it's incredible.
05:31 I'm going to save the world with my friends.
05:35 Time to fight.
05:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:41 (explosion)
05:43 [BLANK_AUDIO]