Avatar: The Last Airbender casts live-action Azula, adds four more stars
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Netflix has found the actress who will play Prince Zuko's deranged sister in the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Announcing five new additions to the upcoming series adaptation, the streamer revealed Thursday that Elizabeth Yu of All My Love and an upcoming Ray Romano film will play Princess Azula, described as "a firebending prodigy and relentless perfectionist" who will "stop at nothing to secure her position as the heir to the throne."
Azula's presence likely means her accomplices, Ty Lee and Mai, the two allies who join Azula in hunting down the Avatar in the original Nickelodeon animated series, will have a part to play, though casting for those roles has not been confirmed.
NETFLIX Elizabeth Yu will play Princess Azula in the live-action adaptation of 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' on Netflix.
Azula's mental deterioration and truly villainous acts over the course of the Avatar cartoon transformed her into a fan-favorite character, if only because fans loved watching Team Avatar overcome the hurdles she put in their way.
Dallas Liu will play Prince Zuko in the live-action series. The character has a love-hate — and at times hate-hate — relationship with Azula as he deals with jealousy over their father's love for her and not him. Daniel Dae Kim will play said daddy, Fire Lord Ozai.
Other new additions to Avatar: The Last Airbender include Maria Zhang as Suki, the intimidating leader of the elite female fighting force the Kyoshi Warriors; Tamlyn Tomita (The Good Doctor, Cobra Kai) as Suki's mom, Yukari; Yvonne Chapman (Kung Fu, Family Law) as Avatar Kyoshi, a previous generation's Avatar; and Casey Camp-Horinek (Barking Water, Reservation Dogs) as Katara and Sokka's Gran Gran of the Southern Water Tribe.
They join previously announced Gordon Cormier as Avatar Aang, Kiawentiio Tarbell as Katara, Ian Ousley as Sokka, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee as Zuko's uncle Iroh, Lim Kay Siu as Air Nomad monk Gyatso, and Ken Leung as Commander Zhao of the Fire Nation.
Avatar: The Last Airbender, overseen by showrunner Albert Kim after original series creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko dropped out over creative differences, is pegged as an "authentic adaptation" of the Nickelodeon series.
The cartoon told the story of Avatar Aang, an airbender who awakens after being frozen for years to a world taken over by the dictatorship of the Fire Nation. It's up to him, with help from waterbender Katara and her brother Sokka, to learn how to master all four elements — earth, air, fire, and water — in order to defeat the Fire Lord and save the planet's inhabitants.
The series is currently filming in Vancouver. A premiere date has not been announced.
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