00:01Up and at him, Baldwunder.
00:03This season, I'm really excited for people
00:05to see Toph being introduced.
00:06Come on, Avatar.
00:07I'm going to teach you to earthbend even if it kills me.
00:10Casting Toph is a really extensive process.
00:12We looked at over 6,000 submissions.
00:15We narrowed it down, then did a chemistry read with Mia,
00:18and we knew she was Toph.
00:19Mia got it. Mia embodied it.
00:21She was connected to the ground, to the earth,
00:25and I thought, that's Toph.
00:28Well, it was a good try.
00:30Really?
00:30No! I've seen two-year-olds hold their ground better.
00:34I actually grew up with the series.
00:36I did an interview once when I was like 10 years old.
00:38Someone had asked me if I wanted to play Toph,
00:41if they ever made a live action for Avatar.
00:43And then it happened, and I was like,
00:44oh, I'm actually going to play Toph.
00:47The Avatar needs to learn earthbending,
00:49so Toph has a huge role this season.
00:52My friend, Bumi, said that my teacher
00:54would be a master of Neon Chou Jing.
00:55Never heard of it. Get out of my way!
00:58Brigang Toph is like a really mean older sister,
01:01but younger and way stronger.
01:03Pretty light on your feet, twinkle toes.
01:05She has little to no filter,
01:07which means that she's very blunt and funny.
01:10How can I bend something I can't see?
01:12Whoa!
01:13No, I didn't.
01:13Don't apologize.
01:15The character Toph is blind.
01:16It was amazing to watch Mia approach that role
01:19with such discipline and commitment.
01:21Is she actually blind?
01:22Either way, she's amazing.
01:24Learning how to portray a fully blind character
01:27was one of the biggest insecurities I had about this role.
01:31Now you have to see beyond what you can see.
01:35Mia spent so much time working with our amazing blindness consultant,
01:39Joe Stretchy, so she could get those senses right.
01:43Every time Toph is on set, Joe is on set.
01:45Every time Toph is in rehearsal, Joe is in rehearsal.
01:48Could not do this without him. He's brilliant.
01:51We work together on how she touches things
01:54and moves through the world,
01:56thinking about the realities of blindness.
01:58But also, when Toph is bending,
02:00it's evident that she doesn't have to look at what she's doing.
02:03It's kind of like playing basketball and doing a no-look pass.
02:09We provided contacts for her that completely blocked her vision,
02:13so she spent weeks training and practicing with those.
02:15All of my castmates have been super helpful,
02:17telling me where things are in relation to me.
02:21That way, I'm not going through the scene looking like I can't see,
02:24because Toph can see in her own unique way.
02:28There's a secret life of the world beneath the rock,
02:31beneath everything you think you know.
02:34If you can feel it, then you can change it.
02:37I think the fans will be very excited about Mia's performance.
02:41She is absolutely Toph.
02:44Even with all the science fiction and superpowers,
02:47we want children who are blind or low vision
02:49to watch this show and see themselves in the character.
02:52And I think Mia really played a big role
02:55developing live-action version of Toph.
02:58It's awesome. We have a new member of the family.
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