Filipino-Canadian Gordon Cormier, the young talent behind the role of Aang in Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender,’ opened up about his experience stepping into the last airbender’s shoes without knowing who his character was.
Cormier and co-star Dallas Liu visited Manila on February 24 for a press conference. Recalling the moment he learned he had secured the role of Aang, the young actor shared a mix of confusion and elation.
“They ended up saying, ‘We searched the whole world for Aang, and then we found him, and you live 15 minutes away from the studio! I was really confused; I had no clue what was going on. I’m like, ‘You found him? That’s a really mean way to tell me that I didn’t get the role.’ Eventually, I figured out that I booked it. There were a lot of tears, a lot of crying, a lot of emotional words,” he shared.
Liu, who plays Prince Zuko in the series, blurted out that his co-star had no idea who Aang was.
“Crying about booking a job even though not knowing what Avatar the Last Airbender was because he wasn’t born yet,” teased Liu.
The original animated series first aired on Nickelodeon in 2005 and ran until 2008. Cormier was born four years later.
He had to watch the animation at least 36 times just to prepare for the role.
Reflecting on his character process, Cormier admitted that while portraying Aang’s happy-go-lucky side came naturally to him, tapping into the character’s emotional depth presented a challenge.
“At 11 years old, I feel like I’ve grown up quite a bit. Even in the original series, it only takes place over three months. But you can see Aang growing as a person and even physically a little bit. Season 3 Aang, I don’t wanna say shredded, but he’s scary,” Cormier shared.
Cormier also highlighted the camaraderie that developed among the cast, mirroring the bond between their characters on screen. He recalled a memorable scene where he, Ian Ousley (Sokka), and Kiawentiio Tarbell (Katara) spent an extended period atop Appa, bonding over shared experiences and creating lasting memories.
One particularly amusing moment on set involved Cormier being pulled up 50 feet into the air at high speed, an experience he described as both memorable and terrifying.
Netflix’s ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ is now available on the streaming platform since February 22.
