Interview: Daniel Dae Kim, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, and the young cast bend our ears about Avatar: The Last Airbender

Last Updated on February 21, 2024

Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Netflix‘s live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender comes to the streamer on February 22, 2024, giving the beloved animated series another shot at presenting the beloved adventure with flesh-and-blood actors. Speaking of which, we’ve got firebenders Daniel Dae Kim (Fire Lord Ozai) and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (General Iroh), and Dallas Liu (Prince Zuko), alongside the Avatar himself, Gordon Cormier (Aang), Kiawentiio (Katara), and Ian Ousley (Sokka) to discuss their exciting new series!

Speaking with Daniel Dae Kim and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, we discuss Kim’s transformation into Fire Lord Ozai after playing two characters in the original series and its sequel, The Legend of Korra, and dig into Lee’s outstanding on-screen chemistry with Dallas Liu. The duo also discusses the best and worst aspects of working on such an established and treasured intellectual property.

Speaking with the young members of the cast, we discuss the pressures of representing the four pillars of The Last Airbender series and their intense martial arts training leading up to filming.

“Water. Earth. Fire. Air. The four nations once lived in harmony, with the Avatar, master of all four elements, keeping peace between them. But everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked and wiped out the Air Nomads, the first step taken by the firebenders towards conquering the world,” reads the official description. “With the current incarnation of the Avatar yet to emerge, the world has lost hope. But like a light in the darkness, hope springs forth when Aang, a young Air Nomad — and the last of his kind — reawakens to take his rightful place as the next Avatar. Alongside his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, siblings and members of the Southern Water Tribe, Aang embarks on a fantastical, action-packed quest to save the world and fight back against the fearsome onslaught of Fire Lord Ozai. But with a driven Crown Prince Zuko determined to capture them, it won’t be an easy task. They’ll need the help of the many allies and colorful characters they meet along the way.“

Avatar: The Last Airbender stars Gordon Cormier as Aang, Kiawentiio as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Dallas Liu as Prince Zuko, Daniel Dae Kim as Fire Lord Ozai, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as General Iroh, Ken Leung as Commander Zhao, and Elizabeth Yu as Princess Azula. The live-action series will debut on Netflix on February 22nd.