Avatar: The Last Airbender cast and EPs tease intense emotional arcs, sibling rivalry, and casting the perfect Toph for Season 2.
The live-action adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender has officially returned to Netflix, bringing the beloved four nations back to our screens for an action-packed second season. Following the massive success of its debut, Season 2 raises the stakes, introduces iconic new characters, and plunges the young heroes and complex villains into deeper emotional and physical trials.
Mama’s Geeky caught up with the incredible cast and creative team behind the series to dive into the character arcs, the intense back-to-back filming schedule, and what it takes to bring this epic fantasy to life.
Joining us were Gordon Cormier (“Aang”), Kiawentiio (“Katara”), Ian Ousley (“Sokka”), and Miyako Cech (“Toph”), alongside the fiery duo Dallas Liu (“Zuko”) and Elizabeth Yu (“Azula”), as well as executive producers Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani. They teased what’s in store for their characters and shared behind-the-scenes secrets from the set.
Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 Cast & Creatives Interview
Mama’s Geeky: What were you most excited to explore in your character’s arc this season?
Miyako Cech: It was a little bit daunting at first, knowing that I was gonna have to learn the aspect of portraying a blind character accurately and respectfully. I was gonna have to learn martial arts. I was gonna be barefoot on set. And like, I remember it feeling a little bit overwhelming that I almost couldn’t focus on the arc as an entirety and more of just like, I wanna get into this character.
Kiawentiio: I was excited to just come back, honestly. Like, to get to be Katara again, to get to work with my castmates again. I was excited to have, to dial her waterbending and make her mastery even more. Specifically, like the water whip sleeves was something that I remember really focusing on and wanting to make that a moment.
Ian Ousley: Something that I was excited to tackle this season was Sokka’s like, he’s gathered a lot of baggage in the first season. And I was excited that we didn’t just like, bulldoze past a lot of that stuff. He has always kind of like, pushed things down in a way. And so starting off the season with him like, confronting those feelings head on with his relationship with Suki and wanting to push past his relationship that he had with Yue, but not being able to, I thought was a really interesting way to start season two.
Gordon Cormier: I was actually really excited to build Aang up all the way up until the final episode, episode seven and then have it all taken away from him. Like, it’s actually crazy cause like, he’s doing so good up until the very end where he almost, he’s like so close to winning and then everything falls apart and then it’s a mystery for season three.
Mama’s Geeky: What was it like filming seasons two and three back-to-back?
Gordon Cormier: We had like, three weeks. Which, honestly, I feel like it was helpful. Like, eight months on, three weeks off. It was great. It was so awesome. I was very thankful for those three weeks. I, yeah, I found it very helpful just to continue staying in those characters.
Mama’s Geeky: How fun is it to explore the gray area of these villains, and what is it like playing into that sibling rivalry?
Elizabeth Yu: I think in the anime, that’s what makes them such great characters is that there’s so much gray area to work with. I think that is, like to the, like that’s who the core of these two people are in terms of their relationship with each other is how differently they interpret this same experience, this trauma, and how it’s, like, not allowing them to bond.
Dallas Liu: I think for Zuko specifically, he’s a whole big mess. I mean, he doesn’t even know which sides there are in the beginning. He doesn’t know what side he’s on, which team he’s fighting for. And I think there was a lot to work with because of that.
Mama’s Geeky: The costumes this season are amazing!
Elizabeth Yu: Christopher did an incredible job. He was the head of our costumes department. I think that towards the end of season three, because we shot season two and three back to back, he said he was, like, running out of red fabric to find. He was just like, he was like, I’m scouring the internet for just one other form of red fabric that we haven’t used.
Dallas Liu: This season, yeah, he definitely dresses it down a little bit, but not because, I mean, kind of because he wants to, because he’s in hiding, but not because they’re working on a farm. They don’t make that much money, you know. But I think the blue spirit costume, he definitely, like, spent all of his savings on that, I feel like, you know what I mean? Like, that was such a cool outfit that Christopher made.
Mama’s Geeky: What does it mean to introduce this franchise to new audiences while also keeping the super fans happy?
Christine Boylan: Everyone in the writers room, everyone on set, we’re all super fans. So we had to make sure that like we were servicing the super fans as well. So there’s little Easter eggs all over the place for, you know, from the books and from Korra and from other parts of the franchise. Growth is not a straight line and that in order to show these characters developing and growing, they have to make a lot of mistakes. They’re not, they’re not perfect.
Mama’s Geeky: Can you talk about the casting process for finding the perfect Toph?
Jabbar Raisani: We looked at over 6,000 submissions from an open call. And then she narrowed that down to about 100 that she sent our way. We looked at those 100 tapes. And then did a in-person chemistry read with Gordon. As soon as she walked in, it was amazing.
Christine Boylan: She walked into the room like an earthbender. My gut was like, boom, that’s Toph. She owned the space and she really kind of put Gordon in his place in this really funny kind of Toph way.
Want to hear more about the intense stunt boot camps, the secrets behind the massive Fire Nation wardrobe, and how the cast reacted to Aang’s dramatic Season 2 journey? Watch our full video Avatar: The Last Airbender Season 2 interview.
