I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: there is no more beautiful show than Avatar: The Last Airbender. Against all odds, the series achieved storytelling perfection, which not only stuck the ending when it first released, but has stood the test of time. 20 years after its release, Avatar: The Last Airbender continues to enchant audiences and captivate the hearts of all those who are lucky enough to dive into its world. As a long-time fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender myself, it was my great honor to catch up with Dante Basco, the voice of Zuko and Zach Tyler Eisen, the voice of Aang, to discuss 20 years of Avatar: The Last Airbender, memories of the show, thoughts of about their characters, Zuko and Aang’s incredible friendship (and Zukaang), and, of course, what everyone needs in their lives, The Real Housewives of Ba Sing Se.
Nerdist: Looking back at Avatar: The Last Airbender, 20 years later, is there an episode or line that jumps out to you when you think about the creation of the show?
Zach Tyler Eisen: I don’t know. I do remember being confused at Flameo Hotman, when I first got the script. It was either the first or second episode of the third season and I’m reading the script for recording and I’m like, “What is Flameo Hotman?” And then eventually they explained it to me and it makes sense. But it’s become a fan favorite for sure. And that definitely stuck with me.
There’s a lot of profound stuff in there too, obviously. Aang has a lot of that stuff, obviously. Like, “The past can be a great teacher.” Or, “Anyone’s capable, great good and great evil.” These are great quotes.
Dante Basco: I think some of the popular lines I don’t remember doing. I don’t know how they got popular. I remember when people started asking for like, “Hello, Zuko here,” or, “That’s rough, buddy.” And I’m like, “What” Even honor was lost on me. “Why am I writing all this stuff?”
Eisen: You only said it a thousand times.
Basco: I know, but when you’re saying it and you’re in it, you’re not thinking that you’re being ironic or you’re just, “What are you talking about? I was dead serious.” But what I do remember doing is when I was on the mountain screaming at the wind, and it was a very interesting time for Zuko in the story and a very interesting time for myself in life. I remember Andrea Romano (Avatar: The Last Airbender‘s voice director) really pushing me to go there. And, as a matter of fact, we weren’t even in the same booth. I was actually away shooting a movie in Toronto at the time. And so she was over the interwebs or whatever…
Eisen: ISDN, ISDN, I’m a pro with that. (ISDN is “a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services.”
Basco: Back then, there was no internet. It was ISDN, and she was kind of pushing me to go there. And so that feeling and that, (Here, Basco mimes shouting at the gods into the sky), it still resonates with me.
Dante, did you know the full arc of Zuko’s journey when you started voicing him? And what did you change in your voice acting as he evolved?
Basco: No, I did not know. Yeah, I didn’t know. I just was going with it. I think as we were reading through it, I remember once I found out how he got his scar, it really intrigued me like, “He’s not who I thought he was.” But I thought when I signed on that I was going to be the villain. Because I was playing Jake Long on Disney’s American Dragon: Jake Long. And I was doing both shows simultaneously. And I was like, “Oh, I’ll be the hero on Disney and I’ll be the villain on Nickelodeon. Then little by little I was like, “He’s not the villain. He’s someone else.”
And yeah, I didn’t even understand until years later how profound his whole story was. I thought it was cool that he joined the Gaang and when I realized he was going to teach Aang to Firebend, I was like, “Wow.” I thought that was cool. The whole story was cool, but I didn’t understand the impact that it was going to have.
Eisen: You were going on the journey with Zuka. He didn’t know he was going to be good either.
Basco: 100%. Right. Hundred percent. Hundred percent.
Eisen: And you hear it in your voice. You’re so angry at the beginning of the series, season one, I don’t know if you even have a lighthearted scene. You are so, you’re so much anger in your voice.
Basco: I mean, it’s funny when I watch it now. At the time, I literally thought, “This is so serious, this thing.” I was like, I feel like I have a sitcom to do with the Disney show, and then I do an hour drama for Nick. That’s what it felt like when I was doing it.
And then Zach, we touched on it a little bit, but Aang, he can be really goofy, and then he can be really serious, and it kind of happens at the drop of a hat. Was that difficult to switch those tones so quick when you were pointing it?
Eisen: Definitely. Especially as a kid. But all the credit for that goes to Andrea Romano, who’s our incredible voice director. She just really helped us get there. Especially for me, I had a very different journey than the rest of the cast. They were all LA people. I was on the East coast, so I was never in the booth with anybody else in New York. I really had to lean on her. So yeah, it was tough switching like that, but honestly, that’s the dream role for an actor to have that range. I just hope I did it some justice.
Did either of you ever improvise in the show and did any of that make it in?
Eisen: I did / Basco: I did not.
Eisen: They gave me a little bit of a leash to improv now and then.
Basco: Jack De Sena was improvising.
Eisen: Jack is an improv extraordinaire.
But yeah, I think in small ways. Not whole lines, but they were great. I was 10, 11, 12. They would let me, if I had an idea, throw it out there. I don’t necessarily remember if anything made it in totally. But that was always great. They were so great at working with kids, of course.
Over the years, we’ve heard different teases about what might’ve happened if there had been a Book Four. Were you ever told what came next for your characters?
Basco: I don’t think so. I mean, I always wanted to find out about Zuko’s mother, but we found that out in the comic books, The Search, which is cool. But yeah, it’s one of those shows that’s kind of…
Perfect.
Basco: I mean, I hate to say it. But it’s one of those things where you’re like, you don’t really have to wonder because it’s kind of like what it is, is very perfect. There’s a thing about it where there’s a perfection.
Eisen: It never wore out its welcome.
Even though it’s perfect, is there one thing that you wish Zuko and Aang could have gotten to do?
Basco: I think that Zuko and Jet could have a spinoff of times. Like a Butch Cassidy Sundance Kid of something that happened before everything went awry.
Eisen: I want to see The Real Housewives of Ba Sing Se.
Basco: And more beach episodes. There was only one beach episode! CAn we do a whole beach reality show?
Eisen: Aang hits puberty right there. So let’s hear the voice crack.
Basco: The Fire Nation kids were having too much fun on the beach. It was like one of those reality shows. Something island. Craziness. Love Island! Love Island: The Beach.
Eisen: Love Island, but it’s like Lake Lao guy.
Okay, we’ve heard a lot about Zutara vs Kataang, so we don’t have to talk about that, but what about Zukka versus Zukaang? Where are your loyalties?
Eisen: Zukaang? Zuko and Aang? Interesting, very interesting.
Basco: Zukka, I hear a lot. Yeah, I’ve gotten art! I’ve gotten art! But Zukaang, I’ve not seen that.
Eisen: No, I haven’t seen that either. It’s interesting. Honestly, I haven’t thought about it. But they could have this interesting balance each other out type of relationship.
Basco: Yeah, they have a great relationship. A very different relationship than with Sokka.
Who was down first?
Eisen: Sokka. I think Aang was a be hesitant! It took Katara the longest!
Basco: Katara was fighting the feeling!
Eisen: Then I think Sokka was like, “You need a Firebending, Master. I think, he’s very practical…
Basco: Zuko did throw a fireball at the back of Aang’s head. Early in the game, when you’re like, “I had a Firebending friend. Do you think we could be friends?” And Zuko is like, “How about a fireball in the back of your head?
Eisen: Well, it’s like young kids in love. They show their affection by being mean to one another. That’s their affection.
Basco: But what’s crazy is when you find out the Roku story and you understand that your past life was best friends with my great-grandfather.
Eisen: There you go.
Basco: That’s crazy! It’s just like we’ve been friends through incarnations. You were best friends with my great-grandfather. It’s special.
Eisen: Written in the stars.
Basco: That hit me kind of heavy, too, because you can always say, “We’d be friends in other lifetimes” and all kinds of stuff, but Zuko and Aang really were.
Eisen: They were.
Beautiful. Okay, I’ll last question, because I love Rufio and also Zuko. What do you think they think of one another? If they ever got to meet?
Basco: They think they sound alike… No, I think they like each other. I think one of my favorite things is when people tell me about the moment they realize that Rufio and Zuko are played by the same person, like that has made some kind of circle in their life. And I’m like “Yes!” It’s awesome.
Avatar: The Last Airbender is streaming on Netflix.
The post Dante Basco and Zach Tyler Eisen Dive Into Zuko & Aang’s Friendship and Talk 20 Years of ATLA appeared first on Nerdist.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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