Interview: Gordon Cormier on Bringing Aang to Life in ‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’

Avatar: The Last Airbender kept viewers from all over the world on the edge of their seats when it premiered earlier this year, as an animated Nickelodeon classic made the jump to live-action thanks to Netflix. But the story of how Aang began to prepare for his destructive battle against Fire Lord Ozai (Daniel Dae Kim) couldn’t have been told without Gordon Cormier, the actor who stepped into the shoes of the titular hero.

Awards Radar had the opportunity to interview Cormier, who was more than excited to talk about how the Netflix series was a challenge for him as a performer. With a combination of digital and practical effects, the team behind the streaming platform’s latest hit creatively gave new meaning to the bending performed by people from the Four Nations, as Aang continued to learn how to master his powers in order to save the world.

Awards Radar: What was it like to see yourself in costume for the first time for Avatar: The Last Airbender?

Gordon Cormier: Seeing myself in costume for the first time was crazy. I was just bald! (laughs) It was awesome. I didn’t have the arrow at the time, so it wasn’t the full thing.

AR: Did you picture it in your head?

GC: Yeah! (laughs) I was like: “That arrow will be on. Give it three more days!”

AR: Could you talk about the challenges related to the physicality of the role of Aang?

GC: All the fight scenes were really complicated. I remember when I watched action fight scenes when I was younger. I thought it looked super cool, but I never thought that it would’ve taken them five days of preparation. (laughs).

AR: The friendship between Aang, Katara and Sokka had a lot of chemistry on the screen. How did the performances from your co-stars affected yours?

GC: While shooting, we were all really close. We were basically family. Bringing our lives from outside of work to inside of work was actually really easy. It made my character, and everyone else’s, really real.

AR: When Avatar: The Last Airbender is done, you’ll find yourself at a very different point of your career. What would you like to work on next?

GC: I heard Naruto was making a live-action, and I thought that would’ve been really sick. But I think they’re shooting somewhere around the time when we’ll be shooting. I’m not sure that’s something I’d be able to do. But I’ve been bingeing it lately, so if they ever want to delay it… (laughs). But doing two live-action animes would be pretty crazy. Starting with Avatar and then immediately jumping to Naruto would be fun.

AR: I spoke to Jabbar Raisani (director and future co-showrunner of Avatar: The Last Airbender) recently, and he said that you’re a brillant kid and that you have tons of imagination to work with things that aren’t present on set, but will later be inserted as digital effects. Can you talk more about your experience working with such additions?

GC: First things first, thank you, Jabbar! As a twelve-year-old, I had a pretty big imagination. I almost thought about everything like it was real. It was interesting because things like Appa were a huge upper body portion of him. And we had the giant Volume, so it felt like I was flying on top of him.

AR: What was your acting technique for the object that weren’t physically present on set?

GC: For some of the Momo scenes, we had a big green box. For others, we had a live-action doll of him. Interacting with those wasn’t really hard for me because we pictured the animated characters with the green dolls.

AR: Have you read any scripts for the second season?

GC: Netflix has my mouth sealed. But I haven’t really gotten my hands on anything yet. Hopefully, I can do that soon. But, as of now, I’m just as in the dark as you are.

AR: As a performer, what are your expectations for Aang’s emotional arc moving forward?

GC: This is all theoretical, because I don’t have any of the scripts yet. But I really want Aang to realize, from beginning to end, that he’s the Avatar. I want to see him taking care of his responsibilities. But who knows? The writers are very smart and creative, they might find something new to do. Or they might do exactly what I guessed. It’s all up in the air.

AR: This has been the biggest role of your career. What was it like for you to find out you were going to play Aang?

GC: It was huge because I was a little twelve-year-old. This was my first ever big role. To take on something so big with a beloved fan base was really interesting, life-changing and awesome because it’s a huge role to take on. I’m kind of just realizing that now.

AR: Throw someone under the bus. Who was the smelliest person on set. Because those wear heavy outfits in hot temperatures outdoors and in the studio.

GC: I’ll tell you who smelled really good! (laughs) Almost everyone had amazing fragances. The first time that we did an event together was TUDUM, and my dad picked up on Dallas’ cologne, he immediately got it. And I think Ian was wearing something, I don’t know. But the whole crew and cast is crazy with their fragances, and they got me on it now. They recruited me. They got hooked on everything. Now I go to cologne stores sometimes (laughs).

AR: After you got the role, how did you perfect all the mannerisms and ways of presenting yourself that became very tied to Aang in this series.

GC: It was a lot of stage directions. Because in the script, we have little thingies under our lines telling us what oiur characters do and how they’re reacting. I kind of went off of those a lot. But it was also some of my creativity depeding on what happened in the scenes. It was cool figuring it all out.

AR: We all know how Aang’s love life goes in the animated series. But if you could ship him from any character from this world, who would it be and why?

GC: Oh! That’s gotta be a no comment! (laughs). I’m sorry, man! Netflix has my hands tied!

AR: Have you played the Fortnite Avatar: The Last Airbender update?

GC: Actually, not yet! I had to stop gaming because, when I was really young, I was really obsesed with Fortnite. A lot of friends are telling me that they’re buying the Avatar skin, so it’s been really interesting!

AR: You were addicted to it, and now that you’re in it, you can’t play it?

GC: Yeah! It’s kind of those things, almost ironic, because I was so into it and I realized that I almost had a problem. Because I wasn’t submitting my homework. Now it’s the time when I should be playing, but I’m not playing Fortnite.

AR: Do you think your interest in colognes is filling the void left by Fortnite?

GC: I’m not going to say anything specific, but yes, a little. (laughs).

AR: Can you talk about your impressions when it comes to the writing on Avatar: The Last Airbender? Do you rely more on the stage directions given to you by directors or on what’s written on the page?

GC: On the table reads, everyone gets together and we read the scripts while getting familiarized with the stage directions. But on set, the directors sometimes tell me if I misinterpreted something, ot if a creative decision isn’t going as well as I thought I would go in my head.

AR: When you had scenes with Dallas, who plays Zuko in Avatar: The Last Airbender, what was that relationship like on set?

GC: Dallas told me his experience for this, because it was really funny. I remember that, on the day, he would just be giving me the cold shoulder. As a twelve-year-old, I didn’t know what it was. But it really helped him get into character. I was trying to talk to him and, at the same time, I was bringing out my Aang. I was trying to reach out while Zuko tries to shove Aang away. I think that worked out really well and it helped with our performances.

AR: Netflix owns live sports now. You should settle your differences by wrestling.

GC: (laughs) Dallas would crush me with his pinkie, I would walk in, extremely confident, after a six-week boot camp. And he’d say: “Hey, look over there!” Pow! (punches the air). I’d go out like a light.