It’s time to dive back into a familiar world we love in a whole new way. Yes, Netflix’s live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender season two has arrived—and once again, it delivers the perfect blend of fantasy and realism. This season, the Gaang is older, and the stakes are higher. War is all around, and our favorite squad has seen battle in ways they never have before, a truth which threatens to steal away their hope and light. And still, within one another, there is the beautiful solace of friendship and love. In celebration of the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender season two, we spoke to Gordon Cormier, who beautifully plays Aang in the series, about returning to the role and breathing life into the Avatar.
As we stop from season one to season two of Avatar: The Last Airbender, what do you think has changed most about Aang, and what has kind of stayed the same?
Aang is a lot more grown-up physically, and I think that he’s matured quite a bit mentally. He can waterbend now, and he’s honestly just a lot more powerful, but I think the one thing that would stay the same is like his fun childlike spirit, his curiosity, and his seeking for adventures.
And season two of Avatar: The Last Airbender, as you said, is a much darker, more adult chapter for Aang and Team Avatar than season one was. What do you think is driving Aang in season two, and what is he struggling with the most?
This season, he’s worried about the Great Comet that’s going to come back, and that’s what the Firebenders originally used to wipe out all the air nomads. I feel like that’s what’s driving him forward. Now there’s actual pressure, and we need to defeat the Fire Lord fast. There’s a time limit and a deadline. We don’t necessarily know how long this deadline is, but it’s definitely placing some pressure on him.
Although the enemies become a bit more dangerous in season two, the most painful fights are the ones between the friend group. What do you think is the sort of cause of this friction that really seems to form between everyone this time around?
It definitely seems like a lack of communication and quite a bit of mistrust. I feel like all the characters are learning more about themselves. Like Katara and Sokka came from a small village in the Water Tribe. Aang was raised as an air nomad. Toph has been sheltered her whole life, so we’re all introduced to this giant city. All of a sudden, we realize that we all want different things, and we go out and seek what we want. We notice that we’re not really out for the same stuff. We all want something a little different. And then when we find out what we’ve all been doing, neither of us definitely agrees with each other about it, and it gets us in a lot of trouble, so it causes us to fight.
What do you think Aang learns that he wants in Avatar: The Last Airbender season two?
Well, Aang, weirdly enough, is searching for a father figure in season two of Avatar: The Last Airbender. For example, Long Feng, that’s kind of the person that he clings to. And when he finds out that Long Feng is actually the enemy and not a friend… It’s quite heartbreaking for him and the audience, but I feel like he’s searching for something that he had at one time, maybe with Gyatso, but he’s hoping that it’s something he can recreate.
Aang also ends up spending some time with Uncle Iroh toward the end of this Avatar: The Last Airbender season. Do you think that he sees some of that energy in Iroh, and how does that relationship work with the sort of Fire Nation clashing?
Well, funny enough, I think that Iroh and Gyatso are, to just to Aang, but just in general, quite similar as people. But I think that with Iroh sitting on the other side, like he’s quite loyal to Zuko, not really loyal to the Fire Nation necessarily, but he definitely is Fire Nation… There’s just a little bit of clashing going on there. At the end of the day, though, he’s one of the good guys. He’s part of the White Lotus. He’s not one of the enemies, and he makes it quite clear.
In season one, I feel like the show really fleshes out the idea of a friendship possibility between Zuko and Aang. I feel like we spent more time with them on a camaraderie level in season one, maybe more than even in the cartoon, at that point. How does Aang feel about Zuko in season two of Avatar: The Last Airbender?
It’s a tricky one because in season one, yeah, Aang did try and reach out for that friendship, but it didn’t really work. Obviously, Zuko’s trying to capture me throughout almost the entire series, but I feel like Aang is definitely very forgiving. He’s the type to always give second, third, maybe fifth chances. But I think that if Zuko ever came around, he would definitely be skeptical, but I don’t think Aang’s heart would be closed off to
And the relationship between Toph and Aang is also so fun and exciting to experience in live action. What do you think the relationship with Toph brings to Aang that he didn’t have before?
Tough love, honestly. Katara is like so nurturing, and Sokka is kind of like just the funny guy, but he’s not necessarily … He contributes so much to the show, but he doesn’t train Aang. That’s something that Katara, Toph, and Bumi have, Zuko eventually, that’s so special. But I think that she brings this educational experience, but also literally just the third element. She brings Earth to the TV show. When she shows up all of a sudden, that’s what it’s about. It’s about learning the third element, and that’s new for Aang, considering he’s only been working on the first two.
Earthbending is such a different movement set and look than water or airbending. What was it like to take on the task of kind of learning that style of movement?
Honestly, it was quite easy. I’ve wanted to learn earthbending from the start. Season one bootcamp, I remember I wanted them to teach me how earthbending looks so bad because I thought it just looked so cool. So I’ve been getting glimpses of it and almost studying it for the past two years, honestly, or the two years leading up to when we shot it. But Toph’s style of earthbending is also a little bit different, which is cool. She’s not necessarily super like… She’s not in the widest dance. She’s not always closed fist. She has this interesting style of earthbending, which definitely took me a second to pick up, but I feel like I was so excited to learn it that it just became easy.
The best part of an adaptation is retaining some of the original moments but changing others. What is your favorite Aang moment this season that’s straight from the Avatar: The Last Airbender cartoon, and what is your favorite kind of original to the live-action moment that you got to experience?
If I’m being honest, I can’t really recall any one-for-one line or one-for-one shot, but I remember the training montage from season two, which we kind of recreated. For example, in the animated series, this training montage was with Aang and Toph in the desert. And it was kind of all the same stuff, but in our live action, it’s within our little… It’s in our home in the backyard. I’m basically getting trained. But our training montages are very similar, just in different locations because of changes that we’ve made to the series. But I really like the way that we did it, and I think it gives us this fresh perspective, or I don’t know, almost like a new training montage is what it feels like, but it breathes life into the old one, at the same time.
It lets us see it twice, I feel like. We got to see it in the animated series and we don’t need to watch it exactly the same again. Now we get to watch a slightly different version, but it’s new. It’s different.
Losing Appa is a really harrowing experience in the cartoon, but even more devastating in live action, but of course, you don’t actually have an Appa to build a relationship with on set. So what were those scenes like to bring to life?
When I was interacting with Appa, it was always like a tennis ball, a giant blue circle, or sometimes a giant blue opa, but it really just helped me train my work with my imagination. I feel like that’s a very useful tool for an actor to have, and I had a lot of time to practice and develop it on this show, which I’m really grateful for. Hopefully, I could carry it on to whatever is next. But I learned a lot about just really building what Appa would look like in live-action in my head, studying photos of him so I could actually see him there on the day, even though I’m really just looking at a blue screen, a tennis ball, or someone in a blue tube.
Stepping into this older Aang this season, what do you think he ultimately fears the most, and what do you think gives him hope in Avatar: The Last Airbender season two?
I think Aang fears failure. The idea of failure is really scary because his failure is the world’s failure. The Earth Kingdom, Water Tribes, I was going to say Air Nomads, but, no. Everyone is kind of relying on him to claim the victory, but if he doesn’t do that, the Fire Nation takes over, and everything’s really bad. So I feel like that’s his fear, that’s what’s driving him forward. But I hope he finds it in his friends. I think that his friends give him a lot of hope. I think that if he was doing this by himself, I don’t think he would be able to do it. I think that his friends drive him forward, they motivate him, and they honestly just keep him in check.
And finally, looking ahead to season three, are there any moments that you’re particularly excited for people to get to see going forward?
Honestly, the end of the season two cliffhanger, like the end of season two ends with Aang maybe dying. Yes, we’ll figure that out. But if he’s alive or dead where it picks up, like if he’s alive, how is he going to rebuild? How is he going to go forward? How is he going to defeat the Fire Nation? Are there going to be any more avatars? He died in the avatar state. That’s like a crazy thing. That could be the end of the Avatar Cycle… Or not. We don’t know. So I think just the cliffhanger that Netflix left everyone on for season two, it’s going to carry on in season three and be super awesome. And I’m really excited for the fans to see it.
Avatar: The Last Airbender season two is now streaming on Netflix.