We were lucky enough to participate in a virtual press conference with the cast of Netflix’s upcoming Avatar The Last Airbender live-action series. These included Gordon Cormier (Aang), Ian Ousley (Sokka), Kiawentiio (Katara), Dallas Liu (Crown Prince Zuko), Lizzy Yu (Azula), Ken Leung (Commander Zhao), Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Uncle Iroh) and Daniel Dae Kim (Fire Lord Ozai).

Our question was one of several that was chosen to be asked during the press conference, and we learned more about the cast’s experience while attending “bending boot camp” and how much work was put into bringing the bending to life.

Ken Leung: We didn’t see what it would look like until afterwards so for me, it was more about a concentrated energy and this choreographed motion. So, it was that, it was choreography.

Moderator: What was it like going to bending boot camp?

Gordon Cormier: It was incredible, personally, for me, I was really high-energy. I am a high-energy person, no lie there. It was really exciting for me, personally, because I also really enjoyed the martial arts part and I had so much energy. Like, it’d be easy for me to go on and on, run forms back to back to back. And so I had a really great experience with boot camp.

Daniel Dae Kim: Can I just say, all these young actors here were running around doing their scenes, prepping their work as actors and then in between setups, they were coming onto the stage where they had the stunt set up, pads and all the stuntpeople were waiting there so there was very little downtime 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.

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee: That was humbling and props to the entire stunt team, the coordinators, the fight choreographers, they really brought it and for me, it was an intensive two or three-week process where I had to go in and they would record each session on an iPhone. And I had to learn how to move, how to breath properly, I’d have to stretch, which is something that gets harder and harder as days go by.

So, we’d be working these scenes and we’d work out the choreography, run it and tape it and I’d go, okay. And in your brain, you’re thinking, I look really good and then you watch a playback and 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 that you have that level of support, and from every source, we felt fully supported. That’s what I love about the experience, they worked with us tirelessly and they’re always available if we wanted to do extra because they wanted us to succeed.

They knew the bending has to look right in this world for it to be believable. 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 want to let people down either.

It also helps when you have a prodigy (points to Zuko actor Dallas Liu) who’s doing all the heavy lifting in all the sequences to just sort of bring back and watch him do his magic. In all of them, really, it was a tremendous privilege to see them do their thing and it’s going to be wonderful when the rest of the world gets to see them do their thing.

Daniel Dae Kim: I would like to add to that, just to highlight the excellence of the stunt team. They were very specific about the kind of martial arts that each nation performed and they were also very specific about the way we were dealing with our particular elements.

Like, for instance, with the Fire Nation, they would talk to us about what kind of fireball we were creating, how big it was going to be, how fast it was going to travel, or whether it was a ray or whether it was a ball. And so, I really appreciated the fact that they were thinking about the nuances of those things because I know the fans would be.

Netflix’s Avatar The Last Airbender live-action series will premiere on 22 February 2024.

The synopsis for Avatar The Last Airbender reads:

The four nations of the world 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.

AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER, follows a young Air Nomad named Aang, as he reawakens to a world ravaged by war. Together with his newfound friends Sokka and Katara, he embarks on an action-packed quest to take his rightful place as the next AVATAR.

Stay tuned for our review and more coverage!

In the meantime, check out the trailer below: