The Big Picture

Daniel Dae Kim and Paul Sun-Hyumg Lee discuss their characters from the Fire Nation and their roles in bringing the live-action
Avatar: The Last Airbender
series to life.
Kim plays the tyrannical Fire Lord Ozai, leader of the Fire Nation, while Lee plays Uncle Iroh, an advisor and mentor to the banished Prince Zuko.
The actors share their experience of working with the younger cast members and their interpretation of their complicated characters.

The challenge of adapting animation to live-action has never been greater than for a series like Avatar: The Last Airbender. From the layered politics of the story to the mesmerizing action sequences featuring the four elements, there’s a lot showrunner Albert Kim had to tackle. Set in a mythological world where some people are born with the power to manipulate a natural element like fire, water, air, and earth — called “bending” — the series explores a world that has been devastated by war and prejudice. 100 years after the disappearance of the fabled Avatar, a person who can bend all four elements, he returns to a world that is out of balance, where the Fire Nation is aiming to seize control over all the other nations.

We spoke with actors Daniel Dae Kim and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee about playing characters from the Fire Nation and their part in the series. Kim plays Fire Lord Ozai, a tyrant who currently rules over the Fire Nation and is the strict and demanding father of Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu) and Princess Azula (Elizabeth Yu). Kim previously voiced General Fong in the animated series and Hiroshi Sato in The Legend of Korra (Avatar: The Last Airbender’s sequel series). Lee plays Ozai’s older brother Iroh, a former Fire Nation general and the former heir to the throne. Now, he acts as a wise advisor to Zuko during his banishment. Kim and Lee talked about their experience working on the Netflix series and discussed the challenges and complexities in playing their characters. Lee explained how he first got interested in the animated series and Kim talks about what he learned as an actor from working with younger actors Liu and Yu.

You can watch the full interview in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.

Avatar: The Last Airbender (Live-Action) A young boy known as the Avatar must master the four elemental powers to save the world, and fight against an enemy bent on stopping him.Release Date February 22, 2024 Creator Albert Kim Seasons 1

Playing Iroh Meant Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Had Some Big Shoes To Fill
Image via Netflix

COLLIDER: What a wonderful job you guys both did on this series. Just to kick things off, I’m curious, have you heard about this show beforehand, and did you watch any of the animation while you were prepping for the role or did you put your trust in Albert [Kim’s] hands?

PAUL SUN-HYUNG LEE: Unlike Daniel, I didn’t work on the original animated series. Actually, in 2005 it came out, I’d heard of it but I didn’t watch it, and then I had a friend of mine watch it with her son, and she said, “You need to watch this series. It’s fantastic.” And I thought, “Oh, yeah. Okay, cool.” So I watched it, fell in love with it, was completely over the moon, and then shortly after I got fancast as Iroh, and I was like, “Oh my god, that’s amazing! I love Iroh!” But I couldn’t do it because I was working on another show, and I thought, “Well, maybe one day.” And then that maybe one day actually happened.

So yeah, I was a huge fan of the series. I was excited to do it, but also a little bit nervous because big shoes to fill and a high, high, high set of expectations. But Albert was a fantastic leader, a tremendous calming influence, somebody who was a fan of the series, who cared. The attention to the detail, the team that he pulled together to do it just made it so much easier for all of us who are stepping into this world, knowing that there was a great responsibility to really live up to the animated series.

How Does Daniel Dae Kim Add Nuance to a Character like Ozai?
Image via Netflix

Amazing. Well, I’m very curious, I’m gonna start with Daniel first. Ozai in the show, he’s more of a one-note character. He’s just a bad father, I would say is a very easy way of describing him. How did you endeavor to make him more complex in this series, especially when you see your scenes with his kids? There’s a complexity to your performance, and I’m curious as to how you dug into that.

DANIEL DAE KIM: Thanks. I mean, I don’t think he thinks of himself as a bad father. I think he thinks of himself as someone who’s trying to guide his children. He may not be equipped to do it the right way or he may feel like the way he’s doing it is the way it must be done, so I just thought of him in those terms. Like, he wants his son to succeed him, and how can he best get him to do that given what he sees as a soft nature, as a forgiving nature, as a compassionate nature?

So I think he is actually trying to achieve his objective with the tools he has, and unfortunately, you know, they may not be the most compassionate tools, but it’s also why it’s so fantastic for Zuko that he has someone like Iroh in his life. So, in many ways, if you think about the relationship between the children and parents in the entire series, they’re complicated, they’re all complicated, and it is like parenting. You can’t say what is right for one parent and child is right for all parents and children. It’s a really complicated balance.

Paul Sun-Hyung Lee Is Back in His Element Playing a Father Figure
Image via Netflix

Definitely. Especially Paul, playing Iroh, he’s, first of all, one of the most beloved characters in the series. He acts as sort of a father figure for Zuko. But I’m curious, when you’re playing this character, is there an aspect of embodying him that you felt was a particular challenge to take on when it comes to his persona?

LEE: No, just because in my career I’ve had the luxury of playing dads who are either estranged from their sons or have lost their sons and whatnot, and so, as a dad myself, I sort of leaned into that whole relationship with Zuko. And Iroh was at this point because he’s lost his son, Lu Ten, and it has devastated him, and it changed his entire outlook on life and how things should be. He was supposed to be the next Fire Lord, and he gave everything up, right? And so, when he sees Zuko in as much pain, and he sees the compassion and love that Zuko has, he wants to nurture that. And so he is there to guide him because he never wants to lose a loved one in that manner again.

It’s great being able to play a character like that because the relationship between Zuko and Iroh was very, very special and important to the entire series. And it was an absolute pleasure to work with Dallas [Liu], who is an awesome human being, who is a fantastic actor, who is just as wonderful in real life. The whole world’s gonna fall in love with his Zuko because it’s such a complex and conflicted story and character. It’s great. So, it’s fun to lean into that, and to be a little bit of comic relief, but as well, what we really played up was the emotionality between the two and the deep, deep love and affection that Iroh has for Zuko.

So, yeah, it’s an honor to play something like that. That makes it easy because that’s the relationship, and if that’s there, and it’s authentic, everything takes care of itself. So, yeah, it wasn’t that difficult in that sense, because Dallas made it easy.

Related ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’: Release Date, Trailer, and Everything We Know About the Netflix Remake I believe Aang can save the world (again).

Daniel Dae Kim Is Reminded of the Joy of Acting Through His Co-Stars

I definitely can feel that bond in the performances. I just want to follow up with that, oftentimes when actors are working with younger actors or new actors coming into the industry, more seasoned actors can offer advice, but I’m curious, is there anything that you guys learned while working with both Dallas and Elizabeth [Yu], a lesson that you didn’t know until you worked with them?

KIM: I would say that sometimes it takes someone who is coming into the business without that much experience to remind people who have been in the business a long time that there is joy in the work, and that there is that excitement in coming in every day and having it be new again. Seeing it through their eyes — and then in Zuko’s case, you know, with that scar — seeing it through those fresh eyes, makes it fresh for people like me, as well, because I then remember what it was like to be new. In the way that we can guide them, they can also remind us of that kind of newness and potential that they have. And that’s what both Paul and I see in so many of those kids. They’re just starting their journey right now. They have such great things awaiting them. Hardships, as well, but if they can do it right, they’re in for a great ride.

Avatar: The Last Airbender is now streaming on Netflix.

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