Nickelodeon's animated Avatar: The Last Airbender series is a classic in its own right, but it's often mixed up with James Cameron's acclaimed Avatar films — evidently, even by actors attached to the property.
Ken Leung, who plays firebending antagonist Commander Zhao in Netflix's brand-new live-action adaptation, thought that he was auditioning for an Avatar sequel before landing the role.
"I didn't know the original [series] at all. I mean, maybe it's an age thing, but I didn't know about it," he told Deadline on the Last Airbender premiere red carpet. "When I first heard it was for Avatar, I thought I was going to be blue."
However, he's grateful that he went into filming without a preconceived notion of how his character should be portrayed.
"Looking back, I kind of love that I came in blank," he said. "Because ... when you have ideas, you can corrupt a pure process."
Find Exclaim!'s review of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender adaptation here and check out Leung's full audition story below.
