Avatar: The Last Airbender's Live-Action Aang Actor Almost Didn't Audition

In the almost 20 years since the original "Avatar: The Last Airbender" cartoon first debuted on Nickelodeon, there have only been two notable attempts to adapt the series in different live-action formats. The first, of course, remains somewhat notorious, as everyone remembers (or tries to forget) the failed M. Night Shyamalan film in 2010. The second, everybody hopes, will go down much differently as Netflix tries to bring the story back to life as a live-action series.

At the end of the day, the strength of the scripts will dictate the overall fate of the new series, but no one would deny that getting the cast right this time around was one of the highest priorities. That certainly applied to finding actors of the right ethnicity — although considering the ages of the show's four main characters, there was no way around the fact that the primary stars would end up being younger than the original cartoon (a fun fact that should turn most fans my age into dust). As opinionated as we can be about even the most minor changes made to the animated classic, however, the consensus surrounding the new cast behind the Avatar Aang (Gordon Cormier), waterbender Katara (Kiawentiio), her loyal brother Sokka (Ian Ousley), and the villainous Prince Zuko (Dallas Liu) would seem to be largely positive.

But for Cormier, his lack of familiarity with the original show almost prevented him from the role of a lifetime.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" stands tall as an enduring and beloved children's story in large part because of the lessons taught along the way. Every significant character — hero and villain alike — undergoes a remarkable transformation by the end of the series, overcoming their own flaws and self-doubts to become something much greater. So there's something uniquely fitting about the idea that the newest actor behind Aang, Gordon Cormier, had to conquer a very similar fear in order to be cast as the would-be savior of the four nations.

In an extensive cover story over at Entertainment Weekly, the outlet brought an inside look at everything that went into the production of the upcoming Netflix series. At the top of the list, to nobody's surprise, was assembling the core cast that would embody these fan favorites. Naturally, the many, many young performers who threw their hats in the ring for the various roles didn't have a ton of credits to their names. But for Cormier, his doubts extended to his age and his own unfamiliarity with the material. According to the actor:

"I actually considered not doing [the audition] because I didn't know what it was. I was a small 11-year-old, and they were looking for a 12-year-old. So I was thinking, I'm not going to book this. I don't fit the casting."

How wrong he was! Now 14 years old (the series concluded filming back in 2022), the entire trajectory of Cormier's career has likely changed as a result of auditioning anyway. That's a success story worthy of Aang's legacy.

"Avatar: The Last Airbender" debuts on Netflix on February 22nd, 2024.